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Jenna Clark

Welcome to English! My name is Jenna Clark, and 2025-26 is my 15th year at Helena High School.

Students will find most course content for 2025-26 on Microsoft Teams, including class announcements, readings, and other resources.

You will find my weekly agendas in the class pages (see left) as well as on the Weekly Agenda channel of our class Team.

Parents are always welcome to reach out to me via email (jclark@helenaschools.org), and students may email or use Teams Chat if they have any questions or concerns throughout the year.

 

What are we working on this month?

AP Language: In the month of March, students in AP Language will use Ethics and the Ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence as a springboard for test preparation. We’ll first learn several ethical frameworks, from Aristotle to Kant, then apply our learning to a brief research project applying this learning to modern technology. Then, because the ACT is coming up right after Spring Break (April 8th), we’ll be focused on the grammar, reading, and argument writing skills needed to succeed on this exam. This will also help us to build understanding of argumentation more broadly, which will be applicable to the Argument and Synthesis essays on our own AP Language Exam (May 13th).

English IV (Mythology):  In March, the Mythology class will first wrap up our work with Creation myths, including writing a short essay on how these myths reveal cultural values, and then we’ll move into a short “mini-unit” for the last two weeks before Spring Break. This short unit will focus on Tricksters, examining the many types of Trickster story from around the world and comparing the ways in which these characters teach life lessons. This unit will culminate in a corresponding “mini-essay,” which will involve responding to a short series of focused questions that require some research to answer.

English IV (True Crime & Holocaust): In the last few weeks of Quarter 3, the True Crime class will be working on Unit 2, in which we will follow a case study format to learn about a real-life crime, then read a piece of literature adapted from the case. The selected cases are Burke & Hare (serial murderers in 1828 Edinburgh, Scotland), Leopold & Loeb (the “genius killers” who aimed to commit the “perfect crime” in 1924 Chicago), Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), and finally the Dakota 38+2 (a mass execution in 1862), which will be combined with a look into the system of Indian Boarding Schools. This final case study will preview Unit 3, which will focus on larger systemic crimes and genocides.  Assessments in Unit 2 will focus primarily on short checks on reading fluency,  comprehension, discussion participation, and a summative quiz in the final week.

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