Summer Newsletter 2017

Research Scholars Award for 9 th Grade Students
The Research Scholar Award in Language and Letters is awarded to exemplary student research projects
in the English Composition 9 courses. There is an individual award and a group award for the top
scoring projects in the grade. This year for the individual award students self-selected a poem of their
choosing, researched it for critical theories and literary merit, and formulated a research paper. The students
then presented a 10-15 minute, conference-style presentation of their papers with a questioning
forum by classmates. The quality of the research paper composition, use of research skills, critical
thinking, and professionalism of the research presentation are taken into consideration as criteria to win
the award. For the group award, students selected a significant literary period and formulated research
groups in a project-based learning experience culminating in top group presentations across the grade
competing in a symposium for the award. The award is then awarded to the group for the top-scoring
presentation and research paper in the entire grade. Students were required to integrate interactive
technology into their presentations and created everything from trading cards to word clouds and some
even created their own songs.
This year Rosalie DiPaola received the individual award for her paper entitled “A Powerful Performer,” in
which she formulated a thesis on poetess Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus.” On her win, Rosalie says: “It
was such an honor to win this award especially because it was a project I
was so passionate about. Winning the award definitely makes me feel like
all of the hours of work paid off. Hopefully I can continue to have this passion
for writing and can win more awards such as this in the future.” The
group award was awarded to Haylee Christ, Garet Connor, Corrine Hill,
David Nastase, Jacob Rok, and Caleb Sorchilla for their presentation and
paper on “The Contemporary Era" which adeptly covered both fiction and
non-fiction writings and the cultural time period surrounding author
Stephen King. Haylee Christ and Jacob Rok said that the most challenging
part of the project was “matching all of the pieces together” and that
in the end it was “a good feeling to know that our group’s hard work paid
off.” Congratulations to these students on a job well done!
Inaugural Student Literary Magazine
This year, Ms. Mock’s Composition & Honors Composition 9 classes participated in the creation and distribution
of an electronic literary magazine, created with the platform Joomag.com, which captured a
collection of original student literary work from the 2016-2017 school year. The reason behind the magazine’s
creation is evident in the student-written mission statement: “We the students of the Forest Hills
Junior High School know that at this age, we all have many opinions & talents that we would like to share
with the world, but may not know how. Therefore, with this magazine, we aim to provide young aspiring
authors with a forum to present their voices through writing, and to help express themselves & their opinions.”
The theme of this year’s magazine was chosen based on the concept of Journeys: Finding your
Hope & Passion along the way. This was inspired by the students moving from the middle school building
to the new junior-senior high school building. The vision for the magazine, as written by the students,
states: “We hope this magazine will grow to become an engaging, accepting place for writers to feel free
to write & display their creativity on a blank canvas for students to not only present their work but to inspire
the footprints of future generations of young Forest Hills student writers to follow. We see this magazine
becoming a legacy in our district and creating a space for future generations of writers to show
their work.” The magazine’s core values include: student centered writing, fairness, creativity, originality
and progressive writing.
Submissions from all grade 9 students were accepted in the following categories and are featured in the
literary magazine: poetry, 6 word stories, short stories, essays, artwork, blackout poetry, and plays. The
students were responsible for editing and laying out the magazine as well. Please check out the literary
magazine at the following link: https://www.joomag.com/magazine/fhjhs-literary-magazine/
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