Newsletter
Signal Mountain Middle/High School
Media Center
March 2010
As always, the Media Center is the place to be and February was no exception! From middle school classes coming to check out books, to Mrs. Baxley’s World History classes working on World Religions Presentations, to ThinkLink makeup tests, there is always something going on in the Media Center. In March we will also add several high school research projects to the mix, along with special events such as Read Across America Day.
As the name Media Center implies, we aren’t just about books. The SMMHS Media Center offers a variety of
electronic media including e-books and electronic databases. All Tennessee residents have free access to a host of databases through the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL), and at SMMHS we enhance that offering with a few additional products. One of those is Global Issues in Context, a Gale/Cengage Learning product. As an IB Candidate School, it is important for us to have resources such as Global Issues in Context, which offers an international perspective on global issues and current events. This continuously updated database features hundreds of issue and country portals that allow our students and faculty to analyze social, political, military, economic, environmental, health, and cultural issues – all from international perspectives. Global Issues in Context includes not only news articles but multimedia – including podcasts, video, and interactive graphs, as well. Please take a few minutes to explore this database yourself by clicking on any of the Global Issues in Context links or ask your student to show you around the Media Center website. Accessing Global Issues in Context from home requires the Tennessee Electronic Library password, which can be obtained from your student or the Media Center.
Finally, a quick update on our school’s readers. Book checkouts are on the rise! In February, Matthew Ford
checked out 18 books, which is more than any other MS student, and Heather Hardaway led the HS students with 11 checkouts. HS student Ashley Russell still holds the year-long record for the number of checkouts with 51 books, but she may have to work to stay in the lead because 6th grader Raymond Rilling is now up to 47 checkouts! Mrs. White’s Advisory took the MS lead in February for the most checkouts per student, while Mrs. Bannier’s Advisory moved into first place for the year. In the HS, Mrs. Konwaler’s Advisory remains in the lead for monthly checkouts per student, but Mrs. Agan’s Advisory is now leading for the year. The book checked out most frequently in February was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Author Rick Riordan has given Stephenie Meyer a run for her money with his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. To date, The Sea of Monsters, the second book in the series, has been checked out more than any other book this year. Will Riordan be able to keep his lead?
Ariel Poss
Library Media Specialist
February 2010
SMMHS is lucky to have some very enthusiastic readers! In January, Natalie Thal checked out 12 books, which is more than any other MS student, and Tyler Boettcher led the HS students with five checkouts. HS student Ashley Russell holds the yearlong record for the number of checkouts – 50 books! – while Anna Dieter has checked out more books than any other MS student – 44 books! Mrs. Covert’s Advisory leads the MS both in January and yearlong for the most checkouts per student. In the HS, Mrs. Konwaler’s Advisory took the lead in checkouts per student for January, but Mr. Groves’ Advisory is still leading for the year. The book checked out most frequently in January was Among the Enemy by Margaret Peterson Haddix, the fifth book in the Shadow Children series. Not surprisingly, the book checked out most frequently this year has been Twilight by Stephenie Myers.
Help us help you! It would help the Media Center staff (parent volunteers, student aides, and librarians) check student out much more quickly if they brought their library cards with them each time they come to the Media Center. Any Student ID received in years past at SMMS or last year at SMMHS still works! The Student ID number and barcode do not change from year to year; only the picture changes. If you bring in an ID with an old picture, we promise not to look!
Thanks to the entire SMMHS Community for making the Scholastic Book Fair a success. Through the amazing efforts of our students, parents, faculty, parent volunteers, and Book Fair Crew, the Media Center walked away with $755 worth of new books, $500 more dollars to spend with Scholastic and almost $1,700 in cash. Another accomplishment was the “One for Books” campaign, raising $176.50 for Scholastic to spend on book donations to children in need. None of this would have been possible if not for the tremendous efforts of our Book Fair Chair, Janet Pickett, and her wonderful volunteers.
Another huge thank you goes out to our PTSA for providing the funds for excellent professional development. Thanks to the PTSA, Mrs. Hutson was able to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina in November for the National American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Conference, where she spent four days soaking up great information to bring back to our school.
While our community continues to be so generous with both time and resources, the Media Center recognizes the need to give back to the community. This year students have the opportunity to “Pay It Forward” when paying library fines. In addition to accepting money to pay fines, the Media Center also accepts non-perishable food items as a means of payment. Signal Mountain Social Services is the recipient of food items collected by the Media Center. Go to http://smmhsmediacenter.org/FOOD_FOR_FINES.pdf for a list food items and their cash equivalent.
Ariel Poss
Library Media Specialist
November 2009
“Fines for Food” is a new program that is underway. If your students have received notices of fines for overdue books, they may now bring in food items in lieu of cash. All food donations will be distributed to the Signal Mountain Welfare Council.
- $.10 - $1.00 = 1 can of vegetables or fruit
- $1.10 - $2.00 = 1 can of hearty soup
- $2.10 - $3.00 = 1 can of meat/fish
- $3.10 - $4.00 = 1 jar of peanut butter
- $4.10 - $5.00 = 1 large box of cereal
Please mark the Book Fair on your calendars! It will be held November 10-17 in the SMMHS Media Center from 7:15 to 3:15 daily. Parents are welcome throughout the school day. You won’t want to miss the Book Fair Family Night, which will be held on Tuesday, November 17, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, in conjunction with the PTSA Chili Supper. Teacher Wish Lists will be available so that you can purchase books not only for your students but for their classrooms. Also, if you have not signed up yet to volunteer for the Book Fair and would like to, please email Janet Pickett at pmomjanrn@aol.com. The Book Fair will afford you a wonderful opportunity to purchase books for your home and school, as well as to provide financial support for the SMMHS Media Center!
Excitement about the upcoming Book Fair is building, with our first-ever Book Fair Crew leading the way. The Book Fair Crew was chosen from an outstanding group of middle and high school students. The Book Fair Crew has already kicked off “One for Books” with creatively decorated containers placed in middle school advisories in which students can donate money. The money will be used by Scholastic to purchase new books for Toys for Tots, Kids in Distress, and Reading is Fundamental. The advisory that collects the most money by Monday, November 9, will win a Jeans Day, and the teacher will receive a gift certificate to use at the Book Fair! The “One for Books” campaign will continue throughout the Book Fair. Those who donate $1.00 will earn an entry in the daily drawings for a poster from the Book Fair. Donations of $5.00 or more will earn a chance to win a family membership to the Chattanooga Nature Center!!
Advisories in grades 6 through 9 are also competing in a door decoration contest to promote the Book Fair! Since the book fair theme is “Read Around the World,” some advisories have chosen to represent specific countries. Door decorations will be judged by the Book Fair Crew on November 9, with the winning advisory being treated to a breakfast party and the teacher receiving a Book Fair gift certificate!
Also, check out the SMMHS Book Fair webpage at on the Books, Books, Books tab. Here, students can create their own wish lists online and get a sneak peek at some of the great newbooks that will be featured at the Book Fair!
Mary Hutson
Library Media Specialist
October 2009
Mark your calendars now! The SMMHS Book Fair will be held November 10–17 in the Media Center. This year’s theme is “Destination Book Fair: Read Around the World” and will offer bestsellers as well as new exclusive releases from Scholastic! Book Fair hours will be 7:15 to 3:15 with a special Book Fair Family Night on Tuesday, November 17, in conjunction with the PTSA Chili Supper! Janet Pickett and Karen Smoak have graciously volunteered again this year to serve as our parent co-chairpersons and will be recruiting volunteers to help with publicity, setup, and sales. If you are able to volunteer for the Book Fair, please let Janet or Karen know! Your support of the Book Fair will be greatly appreciated, as it is the only SMMHS fundraiser designated specifically for the Media Center!
Thanks to the PTSA and Founders’ Fund, students and faculty are enjoying a “softer” touch in the Media Center this fall! Four comfortable sofas with complementing coffee tables offer an inviting area for perusing a magazine or newspaper or enjoying a book from our collection.
Another new look for the SMMHS Media Center is second language signage throughout! For example, the nonfiction stacks are now marked by signs bearing “OEUVRES NON-FICTIONNELLES” and “LA LITERATURE NO NOVELESCA,” and circulation desk signs instruct students to “EMPRUNTEZ LES LIVRES” and “PRESTE LOS LIBROS AQUI.” Many thanks to parent volunteers for their help in mounting these signs!
Have you visited the SMMHS Media Center website lately? If not, please check it out and discover the numerous electronic resources that are available to your students from school and home. You may access the Media Center website through the school’s home page or directly at www.smmhsmediacenter.org. Once there, click on “Electronic Resources” and select from “Search Tools, Databases, Reference, and eLearning.” The multitude of invaluable resources includes World Book Online (including French and Spanish editions), Global Issues in Context, eLibrary, and Gale Virtual Reference Library (a vast reference e-book collection)! You may be required to log in the first time you access these resources from home. Please call or come by the Media Center to receive the needed usernames and/or passwords.
Last, but not least, the Media Center is currently updating its database of parents’ emails so that overdue notices can be emailed directly to parents! In order to verify the addresses we already have on file and to add new addresses, please send an email to Mrs. Poss at poss_ariel@hcde.org. In the email, please include your student(s) full name(s) and the email address to which you would like overdue notices mailed.
Mary Hutson
Library Media Specialist
September 2009
Once again, the new school year is proving that the Signal Mountain Middle High Media Center is not just a place to be seen, but a place to BE. Mrs. Poss and Mrs. Hutson coordinated a full-day of training for our faculty so they could better utilize some of the resources available to our students and faculty. And as the old adage goes, we hope the faculty will practice with their students in order to make this a perfect place to learn. Introduction to the library services did not stop with the faculty, as many of our middle school students have been reintroduced to the Media Center already this year and the 6th grade classes just recently finished their New Student Orientation to the Media Center with Mrs. Hutson. These students learned how to use Destiny, our circulation system, got a taste of our website and learned their way around the Media Center. It is always great to see a new wave of students come into the building; it keeps us fresh!
And speaking of fresh, you will want to check out for yourself all the new offerings at your community school library. This year we have increased our selection of audio books and added new Gale reference books (a great research tool) in both hard copy and in e-book form. Students are encouraged to visit us after school as well, as the Media Center hours have been expanded as we stay open until 3:15pm Monday through Thursday. If you want to see even more offerings on your own time, just check out our link on the SMMHS website, or go directly to www.smmhsmediacenter.org.
Lastly, we look down the road a bit. This fall, many of our students – middle and high – will be encouraged to read the novel Blue Hole Back Home by Joy Jordan-Lake. Set in the Appalachian ridge of North Carolina, it will be the first novel our High School Book Club reads together this year. The story is about a young girl living in a time of racial conflict, who befriends a girl from India.
With so many new things to report, we should mention one thing that never changes – our desire to have you involved! We always welcome volunteers to the Media Center. Please contact Paula Brymer (TBRYMER@aol.com) if you would like to become involved. We just conducted our first Volunteer Orientation and would love to have more volunteers to include in the next one. As always, we thank all of the people who help make the SMMHS Media Center the pinnacle of education in our community.
Ariel Poss
Library Media Specialist
May 2009
It’s hard to believe that our first year is already coming to a close. The SMMHS Media Center was the envy of all our guests when we hosted the Hamilton County librarians meeting in April! Our successful first year would not have been possible without the invaluable assistance of our top-shelf Parent Volunteers and the financial support of the Founders’ Fund and PTSA. A special thank you goes out to parent David Simpson of Citizen’s Tri-County Bank for a generous donation which has significantly enhanced our periodical selection. We also want to thank Wild Hare Books for facilitating donations to our book collection as well as others in the community who have donated to the Media Center.
Even though we are winding down, the school year isn’t over yet! The Media Center is open Monday-Thursday 6:45am-2:45pm and Friday 6:45am-2:15pm (check the home page of the website for any changes to regular hours). Parents, please feel free to drop in any time to get a first hand look at our stellar Media Center! Students, please remember to use our extended hours for end of year projects and homework.
On a housekeeping note, please be aware that all library books must be returned by May 15th. If any materials have been lost, please make arrangements to pay for them in the Media Center before the end of Exam Week.
Again, we want to thank everyone who has contributed to making the SMMHS Media Center a model of excellence for student learning. If you were not able to be a part of the Media Center this year and are interested in getting involved next year, please let us know. Have a great summer and remember to enjoy a good book!
Mrs. Hutson and Mrs. Poss
Many of our Media Center Volunteers gathered for a Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon on April 24th and several of them are pictured below:
Top: Patti Weir, Christine Arnold, MaryBeth Bednarzyk, DeLana Mulvey, Lisa Shander, Angie Herndon, Cindy Procious, Carol Ducker, Paula Brymer
Bottom: Alison Phillips, Susie Button, Connie Brown, Lisa Curtis, Luanne Culpepper
2008-2009 Media Center Volunteers
