English Department Lights the Way to CMU

The Central Michigan University Department of English Language and Literature is gearing up for another exciting and interactive day designed for high school students to get a taste of a day in the life of English students.

This year’s “Fire Up for English” event takes place Friday, November 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at CMU. The event will treat guests to interviews, panels, breakout sessions taught by CMU English faculty members, and complimentary lunch before closing the day with a performance by Daryl and the Beans, an in-house rock band featuring English professors, Darrin Doyle, Jeffrey Bean and Robert Fanning.

A team of nearly 20 CMU English Ambassadors were present for last year’s event and will also be in support this year as well, introducing students to the English Department from a student’s perspective.

When the English Department Publicity and Recruitment Committee, organizers of last year’s first ever Fire Up for English event, laid the groundwork, they had no idea how many students would show up, and were thrilled when days before the event, several dozen students registered from Saginaw, Ann Arbor, Troy, and several other Michigan high schools. In total, more than 60 high school students from high schools left the event visibly and audibly enthused at the end of the day.

English faculty member Jeffrey Bean, who oversees the English Ambassador program and teaches a poetry session at “Fire Up for English,” could also see the impact it had on both high school students and ambassadors alike.

“Last year was a huge success, and this year’s event promises to be even better,” Bean said. “Our large team of enthusiastic English ambassadors is eager to show the visiting high school students why they love English at CMU.”

Josh Adams, the Manager of Recruitment and Community Relations at CMU’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences says “Fire Up for English” allows CMU to showcase its greatest assets—our faculty and students!

“High schoolers are able to witness firsthand the dynamic culture the English Department has built and learn a bit while doing so,” said Adams. 

Chelsea Howson, an English Teacher at Freeland High School, brought several of her students and was elated at the both the opportunity and the impact of the event.

“Fire Up for English fostered unique opportunities for my students to interact with CMU professors and students, to engage in creative writing and literature with innovative methods, and to explore the benefits of studying English in today's world,” Howson said, “They enjoyed the energetic environment and left with a newfound excitement for college life and clearer understanding of the value of being an English major.  

At the event, Chelsea Howson met Robert Fanning, Professor of English and the Chair of the Publicity and Recruitment Committee, who she invited to come to Freeland High School to teach a poetry lesson a few months later.

“Students in her class told me how much they loved the event and how impressed they were with CMU,” said Fanning. “I was so glad to hear that, because that was the goal of the event. They later sent me a thank you card, and several had written things like ‘Fire Up CMU English’ and I could tell how the event inspired them. It got me fired up again too!”

The event is free and open to high school students and teachers. Prospective attendees to this year’s “Fire Up for English” can register at the links below, or reach out to Professor Robert Fanning for more information.

• Registration link for individuals
• Registration link for teachers/groups