Activity in ‘Children’s Literature’ class helps students learn how to be effective poetry teachers.
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (03/20/2026) Lindsey WIlson University education students used a popular American reality competition TV show on Thursday, March 19, to review how to be an effective teacher of poetry.
Five teams of students in education professor Jennifer Antoniotti-Neal’s “Children’s Literature” class staged a variation of The Amazing Race in the afternoon. Just as the reality show that has been broadcast for nearly a quarter century by CBS, the Lindsey Wilson student teams competed against one another by seeing who could successfully navigate a course in the shortest amount of time.
In the Lindsey Wilson version, the student teams visited five stations scattered through the A.P. White Campus. At each station, they had to overcome obstacles, perform a task and answer questions en route to a grand prize. Each team also designed one station.
“They had to wear two hats,” said Antoniotti-Neal ’98, who is also director of the education program. “They had to wear their teacher’s hat, and they had to wear their student’s hat.”
Antoniotti-Neal said the exercise also prepared the 22 students in the class for the Praxis tests, a national examination of pedagogical expertise required of all teachers.
“This is a great way for them to review their unit on teaching poetry as well as a great review for them for the PRAXIS test,” said Antoniotti-Neal.
The winning team was Amelia Brown ’29 of Columbia, Alexis Martin ’28 of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Dale Shaffer ’28 of Albany, Kentucky, and Jadelyn Waggener ’29.
The grand prize was also a teaching tool. Each student on the winning team received a plastic Hoberman sphere. The LWU students learned that tossing the expanding structure to students is a good way to stimulate class discussion.
Lindsey Wilson University education professor Jennifer Antoniotti-Neal, center, joins on Thursday, March 19, in the Goodhue Academic Center the winning team of education majors in her “Children’s Literature” class’ “Amazing Race” competition. From left: Amelia Brown ’29 of Columbia; Jadelyn Waggener ’29 of Columbia; Antoniotti-Neal; Alexis Martin ’28 of Bowling Green, Kentucky; and Dale Shaffer ’28 of Albany, Kentucky. The activity reviewed what students studied in the class’s unit on teaching poetry.
Lindsey Wilson University education major Amelia Brown ’29 of Columbia, right, celebrates completing an “Amazing Race” station on Thursday, March 19, in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. At left is education major Jadelyn Waggener ’29 of Columbia. The students were part of a five-team competition in professor Jennifer Antoniotti-Neal’s “Children’s Literature” class that used the activity to review a unit on teaching poetry.
Lindsey Wilson University education major Aimee Flynn ’27 of Powell, Tennessee, attempts to drop a coin into a red plastic cup as Emberlyn Miller ’27 of Munfordville, Kentucky, center, looks on Thursday, March 19, in the juvenile literature and curriculum room of the Katie A. Murrell Library. At left, Olivia Thomas ’28 of Russell Springs, Kentucky, checks out instructions on a nearby bulletin board. The education majors were part of a five-team competition in professor Jennifer Antoniotti-Neal’s “Children’s Literature” class that used the activity to review a unit on teaching poetry.
Lindsey Wilson University education majors, from left, Kalli McKinney ’27 of Campbellsville, Kentucky; Zach Brown ’27 of Albany, Kentucky; Emery-Kate Robertson ’27 of Russell Springs, Kentucky; and Megan Smith ’27 of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, consult with one another on an instruction on Thursday, March 19, in the university’s Goodhue Academic Center. The students were part of a five-team competition in professor Jennifer Antoniotti-Neal’s “Children’s Literature” class that used the activity to review a unit on teaching poetry.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
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(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)