Teachers Recognized For Collaboration
Two teachers at McDonald County High School have received the Collaboration Award from the Missouri Association of School Libraries.
Senior English teacher Brandi Unruh nominated Sara Pierce, a teacher of English 1 and Pre-AP English 2, and Librarian Jill Williams for the award for their collaboration on Pierce’s book clubs. Unruh said the description of the award was that it was to be presented for a collaboration between a teacher and librarian that has benefited the student population in some way. She said the book clubs benefited the entire
English department because now everyone in the department is holding free reading time with “no strings attached.”
“The success Sara was having and Jill introducing kids to the genres really got the ball rolling in the department,” she said.
Pierce explained she had the idea for book clubs because she wanted to create a classroom culture of reading and to bring back reading for pleasure and socialization. She said, when students read only for book reports, essays and presentations, reading can feel like a punishment, and she wanted to give them a chance to read without any assessment. Every quarter students have an individual reading requirement — they must read at least one book for book club.
She said Williams attends the meetings, which are held in the library. She lets them sit on couches to give the meetings a less academic feel. Snacks and drinks are served. Williams exposes students to different genres of literature. She often shows them book trailers from the internet. Both of them are aware of the genres students are interested in and can help students find a book they would like to read.
“That reading culture I was interested in started to happen,” Pierce said.
She added that she did not always like to read, especially as a young student, because she had to earn a certain number of points
and take tests on a computer about what she read. She wanted to take away the intimidating part of reading for students.
Williams said, “It’s been fun for me to put together the different genres and forced me to be much more knowledgeable about what I have and think about what kids might like. This award is such an honor. This (collaboration) is what I focused on when I did my master’s.”
She said genres students gravitate to include horror, particularly Stephen King novels, thrillers, mysteries and graphic novels.
“A lot of novels that have been written are being rewritten as graphic novels,” she said. “It really is an emerging genre.”
Williams also said it is fun for her to see students find books they like and come back and request another book like the one they just read.
Pierce said regarding the award, “I’m very honored. I’m so thankful that Brandi nominated us. Seeing the fruits of my labor makes all the work worthwhile.”
Unruh said, “I think they’ve set up a foundation to change the culture of reading at our school.”