Voices Ringing
Carroll High School Blog
Eight books we love to teach
Carroll English Department with their favorite novels
Ann (Calderone) Bertke ‘88
I’m starting my 28th year as a teacher at Carroll (the first 20 in the math department). Currently, I am the English Department Chair and testing coordinator, and I teach English IV, Theater Arts, and Public Speaking. One of my favorite quotes is from Man’s Search for Meaning: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
Mary Kate Caserta
I teach Introduction to Literature and English II. My favorite author to teach is Shakespeare because as soon as I say his name, the students groan, but reinventing Shakespeare for freshmen and sophomores and discussing the themes that apply to their own lives is always rewarding. My students laugh when Capulet calls Tybalt a “saucy boy” in Romeo and Juliet.
Lindsay Herrmann
I teach Honors English I and II. Teaching writing, especially in ways that are creative, and having students rediscover reading and writing for pleasure are two of my favorite things. A quote from my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice, is “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”
Marcy (Hemmert) Hughes ‘83
I teach Honors Composition and Literature College Credit Plus and Theatre Arts I and II . Many students do not know the impact their words can have on others. Students find their voices enriched by the literature we breathe at Carroll. We connect with written memories. Daphne du Mauier writes in Rebecca, “If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again.” With these words, we connect.
Ben Joplin
I teach Reading Lab, Experiences in Literature, English III, and Public Speaking. I absolutely love Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Our students are fortunate enough to have an entire English Department that cares deeply about not only their academic successes but their development as bright and caring individuals. Steinbeck writes "I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit."
Claire O’Malley
I teach AP Literature, AP Language, and English Honors III. I teach Pride and Prejudice in my AP Literature class, and it is such a wonderful experience to be able to share the beauty of that novel with my students. The thing I love most about Austen is that she makes you laugh and causes your heart to beat a little faster at any mention of Mr. Darcy, but her novels are much more philosophically and historically thought-provoking if you give it time and really pay attention.”
Molly Stanifer
I teach Classic Literature and Writing and co-teach English I. One of my favorite authors and poets to discuss is Maya Angelou. Her ideas of self-love and respecting others is a universal voice that our students echo. A favorite Angelou quote is, ”‘I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Ben Swick
I am an Intervention Specialist and co-teach English I. My favorite book is Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Wonder teaches valuable lessons about friendship, courage, character, and kindness. It is through this book where I learned that differences among people should be celebrated and looked at in a positive light. My favorite quote from the book is, “When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.”
Student of the Week: Jillian Simon '22
Jillian Simon ‘22, Trinity House
What activities do you participate in?
Marching Band, Balloon Club, Cooking Club
What is your favorite part of being a student at Carroll?
I love knowing that I am loved and appreciated by other students.
What should school “do” for you?
School should get us ready for the real world. It should teach us how to live in a community in peace and harmony. School should be the foundation of our lives.
What’s a lesson you learned when you overcame a difficult obstacle?
I learned that I can’t surrender. I have to get back up and keep going.
What’s your biggest dream in life?
I would love to travel the world and visit Europe.
How do you like spending your free time?
Playing clarinet
"On the first day of school in Family Room, Jillian took her own initiative to go and welcome the freshmen, talk with each one to learn something about them, and welcome them to Carroll and her Family Room. With her being on the quieter side at times, this was impressive and certainly made an impression on the freshmen." - Mr. Jim Murray, Religion teacher and Trinity House Co-Dean
Meet Michael Franz '05
My name is Michael Franz, and I have been Carroll High School’s Director of Communications since September 2015. My role at Carroll boils down to this: tell the story of Carroll High School. I accomplish this through writing profiles, shooting pictures, producing videos, designing ads, and guiding our communications strategy and resources that ultimately appear in digital, broadcast, and print media.
After graduating from Carroll, I attended the University of Tampa in Florida to major in communications with an emphasis on writing and journalism. The years I spent in Florida brought many personal and educational blessings in my life. I dreamed of being the next great American sports broadcaster and was fortunate enough to gain professional experience while pursuing my degree. I’ll always remember my days as an intern at the area’s largest sports talk radio station (WHBO AM 1040) and the Tampa Bay area’s NBC affiliate. Tampa Bay hosted the Super Bowl during my final semester in spring 2009. Helping with our coverage leading up to the game is one of the highlights of my professional career. I was even able to earn a paycheck covering high school sports for the Tampa Tribune while finishing my degree.
My first journalism job after graduation was working as an assignment editor back home in Dayton at WHIO-TV in November 2009. I learned so much from so many great people, especially long time Sports Director Mike Hartsock who gave me the opportunity to cover sports in Dayton. I covered countless high school games and athletes, Ohio State football, and Dayton Flyers basketball, including following the team to Buffalo, New York, and Memphis, Tennessee on their Elite Eight run in 2014.
During my time as a student at Carroll, the idea of one day coming home as a staff member appealed to me even before graduating in 2005. Unfortunately, working as a teacher was something that I thought did not fit my skill set, and the position I have now did not exist at the time, so I did not spend much time throughout college and my early career thinking about how I could return to Carroll. When I saw a Facebook post on Carroll’s page in August 2015 seeking applicants for the new position of Director of Communications, I heard a voice in my heart telling me that this opportunity was made for me.
While the early part of my career prepared me for my current role at Carroll, my time as a student will always be the most formative years of my life. Coming from a school that did not send many students to Carroll, I quickly learned how crucial communication with strangers would be to my future success. The five-sentence outline structure I learned from Miss Downie (now Mrs. Clark) in freshman Honors English gave me the tools I needed to efficiently conceptualize and write not just papers and essays for college, but also many projects working as a journalist and communications manager. Walking the school’s halls and interacting with current students on a daily basis shows me that today’s faculty and staff are still instilling those same values and lessons in current students, and continuing that Patriot legacy is one of the greatest joys in my life.
Two Basic Woodworking Projects and Two New Pieces of Equipment in the Woodshop
I am Mike Lakin Industrial Technology Department Chair at Carroll High School. I am starting my thirty-first year of teaching and could not be more thankful to have taught at Carroll, and most importantly, be more blessed to have taught so many wonderful students.
The two projects you see are the shelf from Woodworking I and the stool from Woodworking II, the first projects students will build this semester. The shelf project introduces students to basic woodworking techniques like measuring and cutting and equipment like the radial arm saw, joiner, table saw, miter saw, router, drill press, band saw, planer, nail gun, biscuit joiner, and drills. They will also learn all of the procedures for assembly and finishing in order to take the project from concept to completion. The stool project helps students refine their skills and abilities with all of the equipment.
Through generous donations, we have been able to purchase two Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines for the woodshop this year, which give the students the ability to cut out more than 5,000 designs. The students employ many cross-curriculum skills from computer science and engineering to use the CNC machines.
The skills that students learn in woodshop are extremely important for several reasons. First, they will learn and improve these skills for many uses throughout their lives, especially as future homeowners. These classes also prepare students who are considering a career in the trades. As most people know, these fields are in desperate need of people, and most skilled trades pay well into the six figures. Whatever my students choose to do in the future, I know they will retain many of the lessons they have learned in woodworking.
Thanks, and I hope you have enjoyed my first ever blog.