The Tyrone High School English Department has been producing students that outperform the state average on the Keystone state writing exam for years. Many of those same students have also gone on to pursue college degrees that require writing-intensive classes. Fortunately for these students, Tyrone’s English curriculum is also writing-intensive and requires them to learn to write in many different forms.

“We try to enforce the idea that writing in college differs from high school writing in that college professors expect elevated language and precise writing,” said senior English teacher Kathleen Beigle.

Class of 2022 graduate Ellie Oakes credits what she learned at Tyrone for her success in college writing.

Oakes, who was also the Eagle Eye Editor-in-Chief her senior year, is pursuing a double major in communication, rhetoric, and marketing at the University of Pittsburgh. In her first two semesters, she has already taken several writing-intensive classes.

According to Oakes, all her English and journalism classes were helpful, but the class that helped her the most with her writing was the DE Composition class taught by Beigle.

“The feedback I received on my writing [from Mrs. Beigle] was crucial to helping me determine my errors and become a better writer overall,” said Oakes.

Class of 2017 graduate Paige Umholtz said that she was also positively influenced by the English department and continues to use what she learned in those classes when she has papers to write in graduate school.

Umholtz graduated from Liberty University in 2021 and is now enrolled in Liberty’s master’s program and will graduate with a degree in clinical mental health counseling in 2024.

“Throughout the course of my higher education, the one thing that remained consistent was the requirement of excellence through writing,” said Umholtz. “Every class had the expectation of writing papers, but papers that were at a high level.”

Umholz said that although the work was challenging in college, Tyrone prepared her well for college-level writing.

Class of 2020 graduate Jeremy Byers, a local screenwriter, filmmaker, and owner of Joker Studios, says that what he learned from the TAHS English department prepares students for more than just collegiate writing.

“With what I do, I have to be very good at writing dialogue,” said Byers. “English classes at Tyrone really helped me write dialogue to make it sound like an authentic conversation.”

Byers has already written and produced several original short films and documentaries.

Class of 2017 graduate Morgan Bridges also felt confident with the knowledge she gained at TAHS when entering college.

“I felt like I was ahead of some of my college classmates because of the things I learned at Tyrone,” said Bridges. “It was the right foundation I needed to be successful in completing my Psychology degree which was heavily loaded with research papers.”

Bridges noticed that simple mistakes, especially grammatical errors, were common problem areas for her peers. “One of the things that the TAHS English department did best was teaching us how to use correct grammar,” said Bridges.

Bridges graduated from the University of South Florida in 2021 with a psychology degree.

Class of 2020 graduate Michael Stoner currently attends Penn State and is majoring in sports journalism. Stoner appreciates that he was able to get real-world experience in his chosen field in high school by doing sports writing for the Eagle Eye.

“I am grateful that Mr. Cammarata saw my talent and held me to a higher standard when it came to my writing, which kind of annoyed me at the time, but now that I’m in school and writing for the newspaper and magazines I really appreciate it,” said Stoner.

Stoner’s dream career is to be a play-by-play announcer for an MLB team, but said he’ll “take any job talking or writing about sports.”

According to English Department Chair Steve Everhart, he has had numerous alumni express their gratitude to both the teachers and the department for helping prepare them for collegiate-level writing.

Everhart said that he and the English department meet with PSU staff on campus about once every 8-10 years to keep fresh on developments in their programs. Many of his junior-year writing prompts are based on ones used in Penn State’s freshman composition classes.

Tyrone Class of 2017 grad Jenna Chronister summed it up well in an email sent to Everhart when she was a freshman at Penn State Altoona:

“I wanted to write to you and thank you for how well you taught when I took your class in 11th grade. It has helped me so much in college. I’m at Penn State Altoona, and I am currently taking my freshmen required English Course, Rhetoric and Composition. We have written 3 papers so far, and I have gotten an A on every one of them,” said Chronister in an email.