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English, MEd

Mrs. Trina A. Schaarschmidt (Kraus), M.Ed.

Trina is a veteran English teacher, journalism teacher, award-winning author, and adjunct professor for Dual Enrollment classes at Montgomery County Community College. Her co-authored book, Explosions of Joy: A Memoir of the Grief Counselor for Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, is highly acclaimed and most notably received a bronze medal from Dan Poynter’s Global Ebook Awards and was selected as a finalist for the 2018 International Book Awards. She was a faculty member for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University in Washington, DC, and also runs the Journalism program at Boyertown Area School District. Her Boyertown Cub newspaper writers boast placing in the 2020 Keystone Press Awards in the Editorial category and Video Story category. Mrs. Schaarschmidt (Kraus) has a B.A. in English and a Master’s in education. She is currently pursuing a second Master’s in English from Slippery Rock University. 

  • The following are courses that I teach at Boyertown:

    1127: DE ENGLISH COMP I/II (Dual Enrollment offering- MCCC) (NCAA Approved Course) English Composition I and II is a yearlong course that is based on the premise that clear thinking generates clear writing. During the first half of the year (Composition I), students learn how to use the tools of effective writing and how to develop ideas through such expository patterns as example, process analysis, cause and effect, classification, comparison/contrast, definition, argument, narration, and description. However, the second half of the year (Composition II) focuses on writing the college-level research paper and develops each student’s mastery of communication, information literacy, and analytic skills with emphasis placed on research and documentation methods. Students use writing, reading, listening, and observation skills to understand, organize, receive, and convey information. Using research gleaned from diverse sources, students employ logic, reasoning, and analysis to craft effective essays. Interested students are eligible for college credits from Montgomery County Community College upon completion of the course with the grade of a ‘C’ or better .

    JOURNALISM Each of the Journalism electives is a full year 1-credit course. These courses are designed to allow the student news publication, The Cub, to become completely student-run. Students will learn journalistic skills to develop and edit stories, design the news website and print editions themselves.

    1112: ACADEMIC ENGLISH 11 (NCAA Approved Course) This survey course traces the development of the American Dream and its effect on the contemporary American identity. Just as Americans in 1776 fought for their independence in order to forge a new nation, writers struggled to create a literature that was truly American, not only in content, but also in expression. In studying the Colonial, Revolutionary, Romantic, Transcendental, Realist, and Modernist periods of American literature, the student will gain new insights into the unique literary heritage of America. The writing component of this course focuses on the further development of a mature, scholarly style with the inclusion of primary and secondary source material. This course will conclude with a common department End Of Course Assessment.