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Cleta Ellington
Conspicuous both for her enthusiasm for the subject and in her compassion for her students, Cleta Ellington teaches English and creative writing at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Madison. Ellington’s imaginative approach challenges her classes to apply all their communicative talents and sensory perceptions in exploring works of literature, whether classical or contemporary. Class after class experiences firsthand the vitality and timelessness of Shakespeare’s plays in live productions she organizes, with many pupils taking the stage. All five senses should engage, she believes, when they read the novels of Richard Wright and Eudora Welty.
For Ellington, creativity equals variety. Patrons of Fondren Traders are well aware that she is an accomplished and prolific painter who sells her work there (and she painted the delightful mural outside). She has also authored an extensive history of the Catholic Church in Mississippi.
