{"id":5898,"date":"2022-06-17T17:26:39","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T21:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=5898"},"modified":"2022-06-17T17:26:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T21:26:41","slug":"of-mice-and-two-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=5898","title":{"rendered":"Of Mice and Two Men"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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1st Place, Personality Profile
<\/strong>2021-22, Division 2, News Writing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Meghan Wysocki<\/strong>
The Tower
Grosse Pointe South HS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walk into Room 293 in second or fifth hour any day of the week, and you\u2019ll find many things: a Medusa head, a portrait of an owl, Christmas lights and not one, but two teachers.

For the past 16 years, it has been both Harry Campion and John Monaghan at the helm of South\u2019s Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition (AP Lit) class. What began as routine visits to each other\u2019s classrooms eventually morphed into a twice-a-day team-teaching gig for the two of them.

\u201cWe sat in on (former English teacher Peggy) Ptasznik\u2019s class every day for a year before we took over,\u201d Monaghan said. \u201cThe changing of the guard for AP Lit was taken pretty seriously. When we began teaching the class, we would stop by each other\u2019s rooms, and that\u2019s how we realized we enjoyed doing it together.\u201d

In their partnership, Campion and Monaghan bring experiences in differ-ent backgrounds. Both are published authors, writing on topics ranging from science fiction to Midwestern travel. Monaghan wrote for magazines and continues to write as a special to the Detroit Free Press. In addition, both teach other English electives: Creative Writing and Mythology for Campion, and Film Literature for Monaghan.

\u201cWe have a nicely adversarial relationship,\u201d Campion said. \u201cI don\u2019t think there are any downsides to us teaching together. It\u2019s a ton of fun.\u201d

Hannah Brauer \u201916, who participated in Poetry Workshop with Campion in addition to taking AP Lit, described the pair as \u201crole models\u201d because of their ability to help students develop their interests in many areas of English.

\u201cIn AP Lit, we always talked about the hero\u2019s journey, and I\u2019ve always seen them as the guides who take on that role of helping you reach your potential,\u201d Brauer said. \u201cThey help you find yourself and open up about things you may have felt uncomfortable with before, whether it\u2019s through writing, film or visual arts. They are really, really important to so many student\u2019s self-development.\u201d

Alumna and English teacher Elizabeth Lulis \u201997 echoed Brauer, noting the range of classes she took under the two of them expanded her perspectives. In particular, it was Monaghan\u2019s Film Literature class that led her to pursue a master\u2019s in English with a concentration in film.

\u201cI had never dissected films before I took that class, and I loved it so much I earned my master\u2019s degree in it,\u201d Lulis said. \u201cI\u2019ve been teaching with them for 22 years, and I still view them as my mentors. Truly, they are the reason I became a teacher.\u201d

Alex Lefief \u201922 said she believes it takes a certain dynamic to be successful at team-teaching, and Campion and Monaghan have a \u201cgreat system where they under-stand each other\u2019s roles.\u201d

\u201cI think AP Lit is universally known as the hardest English class at South, but I still enjoy every assignment I do,\u201d Lefief said. \u201cKids will drop out because of the summer packet, and some of the tests are insane. But I always look forward to every class because I know I\u2019ll be greeted by two teachers who love what they do.\u201d

Even after six years away from South, Brauer said Campion and Monaghan\u2019s relationship stuck with her as an example of a deep, multifaceted friendship.

\u201cThe dynamic between them is so nice to see, especially for a high school kid,\u201d Brauer said. \u201cI remember Monaghan would come into Poetry Workshop sometimes and watch Cam-pion do his thing. Seeing that type of support\u2013 it\u2019s very special. And the witty banter between them is unmatched. They operate like they\u2019re in some sort of sitcom\u2013 they\u2019re the definition of an old married couple.\u201d

Monaghan acknowledged that their partnership makes them prone to a) a stash of eclectic fan art and b) some particularly entertaining rumors\u2013

\u201cObviously, we\u2019re married,\u201d he said with a laugh. The best one came a few years ago from fellow English teacher Sandy McCue.

\u201cA while back, Sandy spread the rumor that we lived communally,\u201d Monaghan said. \u201cShe told kids we lived in a big compound somewhere, and people legitimately believed her. It was ridiculous.\u201d

That sense of playfulness formed one of Brauer\u2019s core memories in the class\u2013 not of reading a Greek drama or writing a piece of poetry, but participating in an annual event on South\u2019s front lawn.

\u201cOne of the last days of class, we all went outside and played a giant game of kickball together,\u201d Brauer said. \u201cThat class was the most difficult of all my classes at South, but at the end of everything, we went outside with a rubber ball and had a ton of fun. It was like we were at recess in elementary school, when in reality, we were days away from graduating high school.\u201d

Monaghan said the partnership has survived through the years because both he and Campion team-teach simply to help each other.

\u201cI don\u2019t think you can be a teacher for very long if you don\u2019t have a good support system,\u201d Monaghan said. \u201cWe are so lucky in the English department to really get along, Harry and I especially. If it wasn\u2019t for Harry, I wouldn\u2019t be teaching right now. I really wouldn\u2019t. I don\u2019t have it in me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NW-15. Personality Profile<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The personality profile captures the life, interests, accomplishments of well-known or interesting people, based on interviews from multiple sources. The subject(s) should have experiences, thoughts and accomplishments worth reporting. Anecdotes add to the personality profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judging Criteria<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  • Lead captures attention, arouses curiosity; reason for sketch is made clear early in story<\/li>
  • Emphasizes fresh angle; individualizes person<\/li>
  • Colorful, lively presentation; effective form\/style<\/li>
  • Descriptive writing demonstrates the concept of \u201cshow, don\u2019t tell\u201d<\/li>
  • Reflects adequate research, sound interviewing techniques from a variety of sources<\/li>
  • Avoids encyclopedic listing of subject\u2019s accomplishments<\/li>
  • Effective use of quotes<\/li>
  • Interesting; appeals to the emotions<\/li>
  • Proper diction\/grammar<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    1st Place, Personality Profile2021-22, Division 2, News Writing By Meghan WysockiThe TowerGrosse Pointe South HS Walk into Room 293 in second or fifth hour any day of the week, and you\u2019ll find many things: a Medusa head, a portrait of an owl, Christmas lights and not one, but two teachers. For the past 16 years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,63],"tags":[182,21],"class_list":["post-5898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nw","category-personalityprofile-nw","tag-2021-22","tag-division2","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Personality-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Personality-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Morgan Womack","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=12"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Personality-profile-scaled.jpg?fit=2224%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-1x8","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}