Georgia Highlands College student Josie Maddux, of Trion, pulled a leaf from her family tree in a creative approach to the final project of her Latino Literature class while wrapping up the semester remotely this spring.

The daughter of country music singer/songwriter Derry Maddux, from the country music duo Buck and Duke, Maddux teamed up with her father to set some of her favorite poems from the course to music and posted the videos to YouTube.

“I knew that I wanted to do something music related for this project because music has always been what has inspired me the most,” Maddux said. “Since my dad has been a country music singer my whole life, I only found it fitting that he helps me with this project by singing the poems for me.”

Maddux selected poems she felt were inspirational and were relatable to her personally.

“My dad and I both are very passionate, loving people, and I think that you can tell this by our selection of poems,” Maddux said. “For instance, ‘The Rose’ by Gabriela Mistral has a very beautiful story, referring to one’s heart as the rose, saying to keep it open and scatter it everywhere. We loved this poem because that is how we try to live our lives as well.”

Maddux, who is majoring in Psychology and attends classes on GHC’s Floyd site, said she chose to take Latino Literature because she is interested in other cultures.

“This whole course has been truly intriguing. I love the fact that we were able to have a project-based learning experience,” Maddux said. “My classmates have been great the whole semester with giving positive feedback on everyone’s projects along the way.”

Georgia Highlands College moved to remote operations in March. Maddux said this change has not had a negative effect on her experience as a student.

“Professor Lindberg has done a phenomenal job during this transition to [remote delivery],” Maddux said. “She has made the transition for us go very smoothly, and personally I haven’t had a single issue – it honestly hasn’t been that different for me. The transition went very smoothly, and I would like to thank my professors for making that happen. They were very up-to-date and informative with every assignment so I never had an issue.”

Maddux said the Latino Literature class is an excellent option for students, and she appreciated the opportunity to take a unique approach to close out the semester.

“One of the main things I loved about this class was the fact that we learned a lot about the Latino culture through poems, some short stories, and classroom discussions about the readings,” Maddux said. “It was an overall great course and I am glad that I took it.”

She added, “As for my project, I’ve enjoyed going on that adventure with my dad and being able to learn in a way that interests me. If you’ve been hesitant about doing [classes remotely], don’t be. The GHC staff is amazing, and they do everything in their power to make your experience go as smoothly as possible.”

Picture: From left, Derry Maddux and daughter Josie Maddux. Josie worked with her father to create musical renditions of poems for her final project in her Latino Literature class at Georgia Highlands College.

Maddux introducing her project:

Maddux’s dad, Derry, singing one of the poems: