Thanku to School Librarians

Happy Poetry Friday! As part of our Two Weeks of Thanks-Giving series, today I share a Thanku poem in honor of school librarians. After you're done reading here, be sure to check out this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Katya Czaja's Write. Sketch. Repeat. blog.

As JoAnn mentioned on Friday, we're focusing on education-related thank you notes this year, in part to honor this week's celebration of American Education Week.

One goal of American Education Week is to "honor individuals who are making a difference in ensuring that every child receives a quality education." When I read this, I thought immediately of school librarians, whom I consider the unsung heroes of education. I worked as a library aide for several years and saw first-hand the difference librarians can make it students' lives at both the elementary and high school level. Contrary to what some people think, today's school librarians do more than buy books and stock shelves. They educate students in computer skills, research skills, and critical thinking. Many school librarians are on the cutting edge of information technology, and they are the ones educating not only students, but also teachers, on the best use of that technology. You can read specifically how in this document prepared by the International Society for Technology in Education.

Several studies have shown that full-time librarians have a positive impact on student performance, as discussed in this report by Keith Curry Lance that I found on the Laura Bush Foundation website.   Dr. Lance also co-wrote the article, "Latest Study: A Full-Time School Librarian Makes a Critical Difference in Boosting Student Achievement," that appeared in School Library Journal in March 2013. According to that article:

"Consistently, reading and writing scores are better for students who have a full-time certified librarian than those who don’t. Students who are economically disadvantaged, black, Hispanic, and have IEPs (i.e., students with disabilities) benefit proportionally more than students generally. These findings suggest that staffing libraries with certified librarians can help close achievement gaps." 

So today I'd like to honor and celebrate school librarians with a simple Thanku poem. (A Thanku poem is a haiku that expresses gratitude. You can read more about the form in Esther's post.) I'd especially like to pay tribute to four school librarians I've had the privilege of working with: Jennifer Brown, Susan Gibbs, Gayl Smith, and Debbie Turner. I dedicate the following poem to them, and to librarians everywhere:

School librarians,

thank you for helping students

be better thinkers.

Now, I hope some of you will join in our Two Weeks of Thanks-Giving by posting a thank you note on your blog. Comment with a link to your post and we'll include it in a roundup on November 29, the last day of our series.

And don't forget to head on over to Write. Sketch. Repeat. for today's Poetry Friday roundup.

Happy writing!
Carmela

A TeachingAuthor's StudentTeachers Thanku

I conclude each of my Writing Workshops with my sincere thanks.
“Thank you,” I say, “for the privilege of sharing my love of writing and All Things Children’s Book so I could help you tell your good stories well.”

And because my Newberry Library and University of Chicago Writer’s Studio students teach me as much (if not more!) than I teach them –

about writing for children and the writing process,
about our Children’s Book Community,
our literature,
ourselves,
“Thank you too,” I add, “for all you’ve taught me.”

This time around, though, my ten lovely and talented Fall Newberry Library Picture Book Workshop students did more than teach me.

They re-connected me to the long-ago Beginning Writer I once was -
the Wannabe who voraciously read through library and bookstore shelves,
who hungrily soaked up how-to advice,
who greedily gobbled up anyone’s words to help realize her long-held Dream.

                       Morgue Files/Imelenchon/ IMS00268

For the past six weeks, while doing my best to seed and feed my Newberry picture book writers so they would grow and bear fruit, so to speak, I inhaled their Newness –

their wonder,
their drive,
their earnestness,
their fears and doubts,
their hesitation,  
and once again I was “new” too.

My Newberry “New Berries” not only fed me.

They juiced my batteries.
I remain ever grateful.

So,

Thanku to My Ten Fall 2013 Chicago Newberry Library Students*

     My delicious class -   

                 a bounty of new berries,
                 each ripe with story!

*Beth Carey, Dee Conomy, Anne Dutro, Debby Edwards, Maureen Kanefield, Carol Kerman, Barbara McClure, Patricia Mided, Laura Mills and Hana Yoo

Happy Thanks-giving to my newest crop of writers and our TeachingAuthors readers!

Hip! Hip! Hooray! for Gratitude.

 

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.
Please join my fellow bloggers for the next two weeks as we write Thanku’s – and – celebrate American Education Week.
Poetically honoring someone who made a difference in your Life, mind-expanding or otherwise, is good for the heart.
It’s also easy-peasy.  :)

Two Weeks of Thanks-Giving 2013 plus National Education Week

Today, we Teaching Authors begin our annual series of Thank Yous, which began in 2011 with Esther’s post that charted the path to Thanksgiving through poetry. Because next week is National Education Week, we’re all posting about someone who makes a difference in ensuring others receive a quality education. We invite you to join us by posting your own poems, which can take the form of a Thanku. We’ll include a round-up of links to participating blog posts on November 29.

A quality education includes teachers who are treated fairly and with respect. Here in Wisconsin, teachers are portrayed as the enemy by a vindictive governor whose divide-and-conquer strategy resulted in the union-busting Act 10, proposed to address a projected state budget deficit. Teachers, health care workers, fire fighters, and other state employees flocked to the state capitol to take part in massive protests.

The bill passed anyway. Its slimy tentacles still reach into school buildings and teachers’ wallets.

But protests continue. One group, the Solidarity Sing Along, has met at the capitol to sing protest songs every weekday since March 11, 2011. Its Facebook page says, “One of the many missions of the Solidarity Sing Along is to create positive, progressive change through participatory song.” Despite more than 200 arrests (for singing!), the group just celebrated its 700th Sing Along. (You can read about the Solidarity Sing Along and its role in Wisconsin history in the new book Unintimidated: Wisconsin Sings Truth to Power.)

My cousin Maureen, a retired teacher, has been a regular participant since the beginning of the Solidarity Sing Along. She shines as one example of the many who still stand up for children, education, and free speech. My poem began as a Thanku, but the format couldn’t contain it.

Truth, freedom, justice
ring out in your voices,
some day (keep singing!) throughout the world.

Thank you, Maureen and the Solidarity Sing Along!

What do we do next? Work for change. Find, support, and elect government leaders who care about education. And keep singing.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at  Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup.
JoAnn Early Macken