Mercy High English Teacher Wins 'Touchstone Award'

In her 35th year on staff at Mercy High School, Farmington Hills resident Jan Mordenski will be honored next month for doing what she loves: teaching poetry. 

The Michigan Youth Arts Festival (MYAF) named Mordenski among a dozen educators from around the state who will receive the Touchstone Award, given to arts educators who "exemplify best-practices in arts education, with a record of advocacy for arts programs, dedication to bringing out the very best in their students, and continued commitment to artistic excellence," according to a Festival press release.

Mordenski said she holds a Master's degree in folklore and creative writing, and "amazingly, I was able to teach both here." Mercy offers a full semester of poetry for juniors and seniors, she said. 

As a result, students have been entering their poetry in the MYAF competition for "years and years". One of the women who has received those entries, Kia Jane Richmond, nominated Mordenski for the award. 

Students who take the poetry class, even those who never write another line of verse after they leave, take away lessons that will benefit all of their writing, Mordenski said. It teaches them to see writing "in a visual way", to stop and reflect a bit.

"I think it makes them notice things more," she added. "In our society, things go so fast." 

When students leave Mordenski's class, they have a portfolio containing 12 to 15 poems. Students also work on projects like writing poems based on photos taken by Mercy art students, then overlaying the words on the photos. 

Mordenski also writes poetry and said when she retires, she plans to concentrate on her own writing. But she doesn't think of her own work and her teaching as being completely separate.

"Actually, they feed into each other," she said. 

In addition to the honored educators, nearly 1,000 student-artists will be named Michigan Youth Arts Distinguished Scholars and participate in the 51st annual Michigan Youth Arts Festival May 9-11. Learn more at michiganyoutharts.org.