Hi everyone!
I hope you all have had a wonderful start to the school year. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jen O’Halloran and I am the Media Specialist at Strawberry Knoll ES. For the next two years I will also be serving as President of the Montgomery County Educational Media Specialist Association.
I want to encourage all Media Specialists to continue to stay involved with MCEMSA, or, if you have not been a member in the past, to join today and become involved. Being a Media Specialist can be very isolating since more often than not you are the only one, or one of the only ones, in your school. By getting involved with your local professional organization, you have the opportunity to connect with other Media Specialists throughout the county on a regular basis and share ideas and experiences.
MCEMSA has worked very hard to provide networking and professional development events that are useful and relevant to what we are doing in our Media Programs. Our first event of the year will be held on Tuesday, September 23rd at Strawberry Knoll ES from 4-6pm. MCEMSA will be showing its support for Maryland’s first state-wide reading program. The meeting will be very interactive; participants will have many opportunities to catch up with colleagues they have not seen over the summer, and will also be able to discuss the featured book – A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind. You do not have to read the book to attend the meeting, so please plan on attending! We especially encourage new Media Specialists to come out and get involved. The first fifteen minutes of every meeting are reserved for social networking, and for the first time this year the last 10 minutes of every meeting will be spent capturing any questions or concerns members have that will be answered later.
Some of the other events we have planned for this year include a Reading Promotions event that focuses on using graphic novels to encourage reading, and a session in which Media Specialists explore how to support special student populations in the Media Center. The Winter Tea and the Spring Banquet, two of our most popular and well attended events, will also be held again. The Winter Tea will actually be held in January this year so members will have a chance to relax and socialize after the busy holiday season is over. Finally, we are planning to host a guest speaker in April – more information will be shared about event as plans are finalized.
MCEMSA strives to be an effective advocate for what is best for library media programs across the county. Over the years MCEMSA has developed a very positive and open relationship with Gail Bailey and the rest of the SLMP office which has resulted in MCEMSA’s ability to serve as a liaison between the SLMP office and library media staff. We look forward to continuing this effective relationship.
In closing, I encourage each of you to join MCEMSA. You can download a membership application. You can also contact Mary Sue Preissner or Amy Kleponis, our membership chairs. I look forward to seeing you at a MCEMSA event this year!
~ Jen
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