Health & Fitness
Better Reading Through Guitar Hero
Some lucky La Mesa Middle School students learned that there are more than books to be found in local libraries.
Some lucky students learned that there are more than books to be found in local libraries. Cheryl Neubecker, a library media technician at La Mesa Middle and Denise Stuzman, a librarian at the wanted to find a way to get as many kids signed up for county library cards as possible.
They came up with a plan to create more interest by helping the students download and use a new application which would allow them to access the La Mesa Middle School library catalogue, post reviews and top 10 lists of books, and even connect to the county library website to download approved e-books.
They also realized that while the ultimate goal would be to get more students interested in reading, a way to get them into the La Mesa library would be to show them that there are interesting things besides books there. The students weren’t aware that they can check out movies, music cd’s, or even video games. There is a even a teen book club with weekly discussions live or downloadable as a podcast.
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A special incentive was held on a recent Friday, where any student having a library card or signing up for one, could come to the school library before school or during lunch to play video games loaned by the La Mesa Library. While they were waiting for a turn at the video game, they could download the free library app to their cell phone.
Mrs. Neubecker noted, “So many kids have cell phones now that this program is a great way to foster increased reading.”
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The students are required to read at least 100 pages per week and because of education budget cuts, the library sometimes has difficulty keeping enough popular titles on the shelves. Mrs. Neubecker, also a district parent and active PTA volunteer, devotes great effort to securing as many book donations as possible.
According to Principal Beth Thomas, “Cheryl has single handedly ensured that every language arts class has an in-class library.”
Principal Thomas also mentioned that the school has undertaken a major push for increased reading and literacy and the teachers are seeing positive results.
