AP English Language’s New Teacher
Photo by John Clement
Mr. Montesano helps his student, Natalie Majewski, with her work.
When one door closes, another one opens. Likewise, when longtime English teacher Ms. Cardona’s recent retirement from the High left a position available, Mr. Montesano, Miami High’s new AP English Language and Composition teacher, was up for the task and has been giving it his all.
AP English Language and Composition (AP Lang/Comp) is a class taken primarily by juniors. It teaches students to analyze mostly non-fiction writing and analyze its use of rhetoric, which is the art of speaking and persuasion. It is not to be confused with AP English Literature, a senior-oriented class focused more on literary analysis.
Ms. Cardona, the former AP Lang/Comp teacher at Miami High, retired at the end of the last school year after 35 years of teaching. Before that happened, though, Mr. Montesano was encouraged by assistant principal Ms. Leal and Ms. Cardona to take the position in her place.
“It was a nice moment for me,” he said. “Ms. Cardona is and will always be regarded as the quintessential English teacher with her eccentricities that were matched by her passion and rigorous instruction.”
AP Lang/Comp students take the class for different reasons, but many enjoy it all the same. Junior Hughes Augustin said, “I wanted to challenge myself, and I’m glad I decided to take it. I’m learning a lot, and Mr. Montesano’s energy keeps the class interesting.”
Junior Leticia Coto said her experience in the class has been great so far. She appreciates the level of rigor that she wouldn’t normally find in other English classes, and every assignment is both helpful and challenging.
Junior Christopher Umanzor admits the class can have a lot of hard work at times, but it’s nothing impossible. Help is always available in and out of class, so it’s hard to feel lost or left out.
Before teaching AP Lang/Comp, Mr. Montesano taught regular and Honors 9th and 10th grade English, and for the past five years he taught exclusively 10th grade Honors English.
To be able to teach in his new position this year, Mr. Montesano received training over the summer at AP teacher workshops in Denver, Colorado, and in Miami where he learned about the course and discussed instructional ideas with other AP teachers from all over the country.
Teaching an AP class is much different from teaching other types of classes. “It’s a leap,” Mr. Montesano said. “Essentially students are going from 10th grade to college level work. The language of the texts we read in class is fascinatingly abstruse, even for an avid reader.”
Mr. Montesano approaches the class with an open mind. “The more research I do, the more I find that there are a number of ways to approach teaching the course. We’re finding tools to crack the ice on these passages as well as coming up with new ways to look at what’s going on behind the words, in the art of rhetoric.”
