Powell High School kicks off the next school year with the introduction of new English courses, focusing on modern media and technical writing to help prepare students for the world outside of high school.

The teachers that will be teaching the two new courses will be English teachers Mrs. JoEllen Varian, and Mr. Logan Burns. The Technical and Professional Writing course is led by Mr. Burns and the Modern Media and Literature course is led by Mrs. Varian.

“I expect the class will be a unique experience for students,” Burns said, “as many of the assignments will be geared toward individual student interests and industry or career specific. ”

According to the Powell High School Course Catalog, the Technical and Professional Writing course specializes in teaching students skills that will be valuable in the workforce, and help students create formal documents, instructions, and other writing that inspires professionalism in students. 

“I hope this encourages students to see the value of all the different writing scenarios they are presented with at PHS.”  Burns said, ”Additionally, I hope the course encourages students to more thoroughly explore future career interests. ”

The Modern Media and Literature course offers students the opportunity to analyze various types of media, such as podcasts, films, and literature, which prepares students’ technical writing skills and helps develop critical thinking.

“I wanted to offer an English course that students saw as more applicable to their lives,” Mrs. Varian said, “And so I wanted to find literature and media that would be more the kinds of things that they see in their everyday lives, things that they already encounter.”

Students who have enrolled in Modern Media and Literature hope to find writing classes more relevant to what they see in the media.

“It sounded like a pretty interesting class compared to most,” PHS student Ethan Tucker said. “You’re watching, like, obviously modern media sources. . . and it’s really interesting.”

The Modern Media and Literature course hopes to become a class that can relate more to students’ lives and takes a revolutionary take on literature taught in schools.

“I’m hoping that students will just see that even modern media, the things that they see everyday on social media, the things that they’re already reading,” Mrs. Varian said,  “. . . [are] just as open to analysis as other types of literature that they are used to studying.”