Libraries move into the 21st Century
There have been several improvements made in the school libraries bringing resources and technology into the libraries that can be accessed by our students and staff. This past school year our library staff grew to include three librarians which has enabled us to increase library times in most buildings. We are excited about the changes and the continued growth of the libraries as a vital part of the Fieldcrest community.
“MDR Class of 1966” donates $1700 in memory of classmates
In memory of Robert Janssen the library was able to purchase a set of books for Mrs. Stremlau’s Language class. They will be reading and working with the book written by Dave Pelzer, A Child Called “It”. This is a very inspiring book about courage and the ability to overcome challenges in our life. The students are enjoying the book so far. Thanks again for giving us the funds to purchase the classroom materials.
In memory of Diane Schneider the library has been able to purchase over 200 books for the four libraries in the district. We were able to replace several I Spy and Dr. Seuss hardback books on the elementary level. We were also able to replace the tattered and torn series of Harry Potter and The Series of Unfortunate Events on the middle school level. Diane’s grandson is a student at the high school and he is an avid reader of fantasy and science fiction. It has been a challenge finding new books in this area. We have been able to purchase 75 fantasy and science fiction books for the high school level and of special interest to Diane’s grandson. I had the opportunity to work with Diane for a short time while she was an aide in the high school special education department and found her hard working and very dedicated and wanted to do whatever she could to help the students she was working with. I feel this donation would make Diane and her family very happy.
The students and librarians would like to thank all the community members for their generous donations to the libraries. Several books have been donated during the Book Fairs at West and East. The Fandel family from Toluca donated over 200 books that have been added to our collection or were used in a book sale to raise funds to purchase new AR quizzes. The books have been processed and are ready for students to checkout.
Libraries become automated and card catalogs are accessible online.
Last spring the school board was presented with a plan to automate the libraries at East, West, and South using a program hosted by Libraryworld.com. The online catalog allows students to search the card catalogs of the library for any internet location. It also allows the libraries to track books more efficiently which means fewer books are lost and this amounts to an increase in circulation. The high school library has been automated for the past five years and the original plan projected automating one library each year with the entire district being online by the end of three years. The program has been working so well and with the improvement of the district’s financial status the timeline have been amended so that all libraries will be automated and online by the beginning of the 08 – 09 school year. When the school year began, FHS and East libraries were up and running with the new system. Over winter break the automation process was completed at West adding the third District library online with the work in progress at South to be concluded over the summer. This tool has become invaluable when students are working on research projects or just looking for that specific book.
Upgrade of Accelerated Reader
Accelerated Reader has been used through out the district to motivate and monitor individual student reading growth. The program was adopted district wide the beginning of the 06-07 school year. This allowed the students records to move with them as they moved to a new building but the fact that each building had a different collection of quizzes created an enormous problem. As the situation was evaluated, the district decided to invest in the upgraded program which would give all of our students access to a collection of nearly 105,000 reading practice quizzes not to mention other types of quizzes. The upgrade was completed over the winter break and when students returned they were introduced to the new program. The overall conversion has gone smoothly and there is a new excitement among the students.
FHS students have been invited to attend an Author Visit at Roanoke-Benson High School
A prolific young adult novelist and Emmy Award nominee, Marilyn Reynolds knows teens. She has taught reading to at-risk high school students for more than 30 years. She also conducts workshops for teachers of reluctant readers and makes motivational presentations to middle and high schools across the country. One of her greatest pleasures is hearing "This is the first book I have ever read. Got any more?"
Marilyn Reynolds has been a popular author among Fieldcrest students as well. She will be visiting students at R-B on April 30 and FHS students have been invited to attend. Students interested in attending the Author Visit need to check in with Mrs. McNamara for more details.