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Gale Holt

Appealing Literacy Our society needs a literate constituency. West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle’s economy needs a well-equipped, well-educated labor pool before we can hope to attract new businesses with new jobs. Finally, in these straitened times, families desperately need for every tuition dollar to count, and that means passing and succeeding in each and every course. Therefore, our college-bound high school students need the level of literacy that will allow them to succeed in all academic areas in colleges and universities. Mind you, we must achieve this in a school with thirty-two per cent of its students on free or reduced lunch, in a state that is dead last in academic achievement according to the American Legislative Exchange Council. Musselman High School, home of the Musselmen Applemen, is located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Musselman High School has a love of excellence and pride in its traditions, but its community is one of modest means. Our school’s mission statement is “to provide educational excellence for all students in an academically challenging, positive, and safe atmosphere.” It is our desire to provide language skills requisite for addressing the challenges of a global economy. We intend to do this through a College Readiness English course for college-bound seniors. This course is aligned with a statewide initiative to provide such a course. West Virginia is intent on the sons and daughters of orchard farmers and coal miners succeeding in the twenty-first century. English 12 CR (College Readiness)is aligned to the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives as well as the College and Career Ready Anchor Standards and benchmarks. College Readiness English is intended for students whose needs will not be met through Advanced Placement or Honors English. This course is rigorous and will address any gaps that would hinder them in a college career. All students must master research and citation, and some students may find that they need to hone other foundational skills. Diana Hacker’s A Writer's Reference with Exercises will be an invaluable tool in achieving these goals. Students would use the tutorials in this book to review and refine skills and to guide them in appropriate research citation and correction of writing errors. It is my goal to acquire a set of fifteen of this book which costs $58.06. Hacker’s works are the gold standard for writing reference books in college English. A local university uses this writing guide. Contributing a modest price has the potential of bringing a significant benefit to our students and our community. We appreciate your consideration of our proposal.