As is standard for Grace College’s English program, Dr. Paulette Sauders took the senior English and English Education Majors this spring to take the English PRAXIS II exam that tests students’ abilities with language, literature and rhetoric. Four of the six students this time around scored high enough on the exam to be awarded “Certificates of Excellence” with scores of194, 195, 198, and 200 (all out of 200 possible points). The other two students scored 186 and 188.

Additionally, Sauders took the seniors to Butler University in Indianapolis where they presented unique research on a project of their choosing. “This is not a competition, but all of them were congratulated by each of the Butler professors in charge of their respective sessions for great research and paper presentations,” says Sauders who is proud of her students’ accomplishments this year. It was also the first time that Sauders took students who majored in Journalism. At Butler they presented lengthy investigative research pieces that were the culmination of their education in that field.

Sauders holds a faculty seniority of 47 years at the school after she started teaching in 1965. Her areas of expertise are in the life and work of Christian apologist C. S. Lewis as well as in drama through the ages, especially the works of Shakespeare. She presented a paper on C.S. Lewis at the C.S. Lewis & Friends Colloquium at Taylor University on June 2 which was well-received.

The English program at Grace is dedicated to excellence in communication and worldview as they study language, literature, and both professional and creative writing. The professors in this department consistently model the passion and the power of the material they teach. Students who take courses in English are encouraged to pursue applied-learning experiences whether those manifest in the form of assessment or presentation.