Collaboration & Media Services
- Contact Information: Melissa Walker, Media Coordinator, [email protected], Extensions 4053 & 4178 (If I don't answer, try the other number. If I'm in the back room, I may not reach the first call attempt, and I do not have an assistant to answer the phone.)
- Collaboration: If there's anything I can do to help enrich your lessons, I'm here to serve. My background is 7 years in the Real Estate, Engineering, and Construction department at Lowe's Home Improvement corporate office and 19 years as a classroom teacher (English and journalism). I'm not an expert in all curricula, but I'm willing to learn and provide any media literacy assistance needed. The pathfinders located on the media center website are examples of some of the things I can do for teachers/students.
- Book Acquisition: Let me know if there is a book (or a set of books) you would like. I'll do my best to get them for you.
- Teacher Book Checkouts: Teachers are, of course, allowed to check out books! Just FYI, class sets housed in classrooms are checked out to the classroom teacher, but don't worry, teachers don't get late fees. This is just how we keep up with where they are.
- Student Services: If students want to check out books or see me about research projects, yearbook, or whatever, feel free to send them during the day (just call to give me a heads-up). Also, I'm usually in the media center during our Smart Lunch blocks, so it's ok to send them during the blocks, too.
- Scrolling Announcements: The Announcement Request Form may be found in the NWHS Staff Info Canvas page. Premade announcements (from Canva, etc.) should be 9.5" wide x 3.8" high.
Class Visits
- Class Visits: CCP, NC Virtual Academy, and Journalism students are housed in the media center during all four classes. Depending on the class period and how many students are in the visiting class, it will likely require some planning. Please contact me (Melissa Walker) a few days in advance to discuss options. This semester, media center occupancy averages are as follows:
- 1st Period: 7 students (out of a possible 24)
- 2nd Period: 34 students (out of a possible 51, *Journalism section)
- 3rd Period: 22 students (out of a possible 33)
- 4th Period: 28 students (out of a possible 61, *Journalism section)
- Guest Speakers: The media center may be reserved for guest speakers during class time and during our Smart Lunch blocks. Please contact Mrs. Walker to schedule.
- Other Reservations: Please contact Mrs. Walker to discuss reserving the media center for meetings or other activities.
Sending Students
If your intent is to transfer supervision responsibility for an extended amount of time, please call me (Melissa Walker) before sending students to discuss options and to make sure there is not a conflict with activities already taking place in the media center. (Examples: sending students to take a test or work in the media center (FYI--it's not always quiet in here), sending students to look for/check out books, sending students to work on a project, etc.)
Laminator & Supplies
- Laminator: The laminator is available for teachers to use at any point in the day. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to heat up, so feel free to call me (Melissa Walker) before heading to the media center and I'll cut it on for you.
- Supplies: Administration expects that teachers use their supply budget and other funding sources to get materials they need. However, I still tries to keep roll paper for bulletin boards, some large project paper, some poster board, and some construction paper. Teachers are free to come get any of this paper as needed; however, please take only what you need. When it runs out, there is no guarantee of replacement.
Media Coordinator Responsibilities
The position of media coordinator is increasingly tailored to the needs of the school. In Wilkes County and here at North Wilkes, the position carries responsibilities that other coordinators in the state may not have. In the spirit of self-advocacy, here are my areas of responsibility:
- NC Media Coordinator Standards: Just in case anyone is curious, I've linked the Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina's School Library Media Coordinators
- Media Center Collection Management: Currently, our media center holds 12,449 items in inventory. It's my job to manage that inventory including collection development, acquisition, inventory management, new item processing, and weeding--its a little like managing inventory for a small retail store.
- CCP/NC Virtual Academy Student Supervision: Students taking online CCP and NC Virtual Academy classes are housed in the media center during all four classes. I'm responsible for their supervision.
- Journalism/Yearbook: I teach the Journalism I Honors and Journalism II Honors courses at our school. We produce our school's yearbook, and all that entails (ad sales; yearbook sales; content creation, proofreading, and editing; etc.)
- Supervise Media Assistants: Each semester, I usually have a couple of media assistants. These students are enrolled in my media class and have assignments to complete in addition to their daily jobs in the media center. So, I create curriculum for them and train them for their positions.
- School Leadership Team: I serve as a member of our Leadership Team.
- Scrolling Announcements: I run our school's scrolling announcements.