Language Arts Department
The Language Arts
- Listening: understanding spoken language
- Speaking: communicating ideas through oral language
- Reading: understanding written language
- Writing: communicating through written language
- Viewing: understanding visual images and connecting them to accompanying spoken or written words
- Visually Representing: presenting information through images, either alone or along with spoken or written words
Trinity Hall
High School English
My name is Trinity Hall, and I am one of the high school English teachers at AFSA High School, as well as the new Theatre director! I graduated from The University of Alabama in Huntsville with a B.S. in Secondary Education and a B.A. in English. I truly believe that every student can gain something from engaging in literature; whether that is an important life lesson, or just simple interest in a cool story. My classroom is a safe place where students from every walk of life can be themselves and engage in respectful discussions about life and literature, as the two go hand in hand. I look forward to my second year at AFSA, and I hope that through this, my students and I will grow together!
Patt Ligman
High School English
Starting my 17th year at AFSA, the blend of agriculture, education, and knowing our students like family is why I have returned year after year. I view my classroom as a smaller community within the AFSA community, and a place where mistakes are free of judgment, thoughts and opinions openly expressed, a place to laugh, and where students can be and become themselves. "Respect everyone and everything" (oft shortened to just “Respect”) is my one-and-only class rule. Students in my classes are challenged to read with a critical and open mind; to write in several different formats; to participate in small- and large-group discussions; and, to push themselves to grow. Life at home for my spouse and me is quieter since our two kids are in college and our two rescue cats sleep a lot. Our rescue dog, Milo, takes me on walks when I’m not reading, writing, or landscape gardening. UW-River Falls (Go Falcons!) saw fit to bestow me with a BS in Agriculture and a BA in Journalism—a good mix for teaching at AFSA.
Jennifer Murray
High School English
I am excited to be starting my second year at AFSA! I teach 7th and 8th grade Discovering Literature and Composition, as well as 1 high school elective each trimester. I am excited to be working at AFSA because I believe that students need to connect to nature in order to understand how our lives and livelihoods are reliant on the earth and agriculture. I have a bachelor's degree in English, with a minor in Land, Nature, and Environmental Values from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I also have a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Lesley University. I completed my teaching license at Hamline University, and I am currently completing my Master of Arts in Teaching.