By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer
(Dec. 24, 2020) Worcester County Public Schools are giving students opportunities to grow educationally through modern library programs, Jennifer Beach, the media specialist at Pocomoke Middle School, told the Worcester County Board of Education last week.
PHOTO COURTESY POCOMOKE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Students at Pocomoke Middle School engage in hands-on creating and coding in the media center during and after school hours.
Beach said media specialists transform a traditional library program by encouraging students to use educational technology and hands-on skills.
In connection with the county school system’s “Flip2FutureReady” initiative, this multi-faceted library program supports literacy and creativity through technology as well as hands-on development of their creations, she said.
The media center at Pocomoke Middle School has a designated “maker” space for students to create during and after school hours.
Students engage in making friendship bracelets, 3Doodler 3-D printing pens, a rubber band loom, origami, Legos and Makey Makey invention kits.
“We have a 10-by-10 Lego wall in our school,” Beach said. “We have contests that are theme-based, and they get to create on that.”
One of the favorable student activities is called “Food Truck Entrepreneurs.”
“They get to create their own food truck business,” Beach said. “They interview a food truck owner to find out what it really takes.”
Then, students create 3-D renderings of their food tucks.
Students can also learn coding through programs and exercises such as Ozobot robot coding and Girls Who Code programs. In addition, career and college-ready research resources are available, including Gale, World Book and SIRS.
With a focus on literacy, the Pocomoke Middle School media center has book initiatives, such as the Maryland Association of School Libraries’ Black Eyed Susan Books as well as over 300 graphic novels.
“We make it a point to buy award-winning books,” Beach said.
She also tries to make her “purchasing more deliberate, buying books that mirror my school’s population.”
Beach added that student requests of books are fulfilled almost immediately.