Clarke Central High School English department teacher Molly Dorkey stands next to previous Introduction to Women’s Literature projects in Room 332 on March 18. The class was originally introduced to CCHS during the 2020-21 school year and taught by former CCHS English department teacher Lindsay Coleman-Taylor – who Dorkey student taught under – for three years. “A lot of the conversations that I experienced in Miss Coleman-Taylor’s Introduction to Women’s Literature class were incredible, because it was students really thinking about their own life experiences and their own identity in relationship to these films and texts and poems and and making that, those real life connections that you don’t get to do in a general lit class, ” Dorkey said. Photo by Lea D’Angelo
After a year-long absence, the Introduction to Women’s Literature class is returning to CCHS under English department teacher Molly Dorkey.
As Clarke Central High School students look ahead to the 2025-26 school year, some are adding a re-introduced class to their schedule: Introduction to Women’s Literature, which is changing hands for the third time since its founding during the 2020-21 school year.
A graphic shows six books about women and by female authors. While an exact list of pieces for the 2025-26 school year is still being developed, Clarke Central High School English department teacher Molly Dorkey has decided that this year’s Introduction to Women’s Literature class will include a variety of pieces with opportunities for student choice. “(Former CCHS English department teacher Lindsay Coleman Taylor) had done book clubs in the past, but the anchor text that she used was Kindred, which is an incredible book by Octavia Butler,” Dorkey said. “ I have this long list that I’ve collected of shorter pieces, like short stories and poetry. And I want to collect them thematically and (discuss) those.” Graphic by Lea D’Angelo
The class was introduced to CCHS by English department teacher Lindsay Coleman-Taylor and she taught it until leaving the CCSD at the end of the 2022-23 school year. English department teacher Jennifer Tesler took it over for the 2023-24 school year before it faced a year-long gap. Next fall, it will be placed in the hands of English department teacher Molly Dorkey, who student-taught in the class during its second year.
“I know the way that (Coleman-Taylor) taught the class, that I’m a much different teacher than her, and I’m excited to take my spin on it,” Dorkey said. “The biggest difference is that I want it to be a little bit more reflection-based, whereas (Coleman-Taylor’s) focus was (on) whole class -group discussion. I want students to have more reflective time (about discussed works), either in writing or in some other medium.”
For CCHS sophomore Mary Wicker, taking the class is a chance to explore more of the passion her mother Kate Wicker, an author, and other family members instilled in her.
“I’m really passionate about the history of women and (subjects) like that,” Wicker said. “(So,) I’m excited to learn more about it, because there’s definitely a lot of good works out there about the topic.”
“It’s not about changing the things that we read in our core classes, it’s more about broadening and opening the lens (and) adding more voices in.”
— Molly Dorkey,
CCHS English department teacher
The class will take place during the fall semester, and during that time Dorkey hopes students will get what they want from the class, as an elective meant to enhance, rather than replace their current literature classes.
“It’s not about changing the things that we read in our core classes, it’s more about broadening and opening the lens (and) adding more voices in,” Dorkey said. “I think a lot of students make it through all of school and don’t see any character in any book that looks like them or sounds like them.”
