Here’s a quiet place to study

Media Center offers students a place to go

Media center specialist Kathy Hicks-Brooks looks at her schedule. The media center is open for students before school.
Devin Hayes
Media center specialist Kathy Hicks-Brooks looks at her schedule. The media center is open for students before school.

Everyone has a love/hate relationship with books.

You love them when it comes to it being your favorite book. But you hate them when you’re forced to read them, or it’s just not one of your favorite things to do. Most of us would rather take the shortcut and watch the movie.

But for those that love to read, and have an interest in it, good news for you, our school media center is open from 7:35 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays it’s available from 7:35 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Our Media Center has many different choices of books and technology for you to use, but also includes a Cyber Cafe. The Cyber Cafe is located above the media center. It is a place for teachers to work, read, or to even relax between classes. Your teacher can bring your class here for a silent reading day.

The Media Center is always open throughout the school day, but make sure if you do go bring your school ID. You can also go during your lunch period if you have any quick work to finish, or if you just want to read a book, as long as you’re quiet.

Media Specialist Kathy Hicks-Brooks can always be found there, she will answer any of your questions. There are also many different rules that you have to obey. You can’t expect to walk into the Media Center and horse around.

The rules Hicks- Brooks likes to emphasize are:

  • Students are not allowed to bring food or drinks in the Media Center because besides the fact that it is a study time, there is also lots of technology that could be destroyed or ruined if a drink was to get on it.
  • Students are to stay focused and on task while there in the Media Center because the media center is a place for silence, everyone should be focused on their work.

Besides the books and reading, the Media Center also has its own programs and clubs.

There is a Battle of the Books city-wide competition where students need to read seven selected titles from the Eliot Rosewater Book list. The students have all year to read.

The competition is based on a written test in April that will narrow it down to three different schools that will battle. There will be a trophy and traveling plague for the winning team, and ribbons for the runners-up.

Another Club that the Media Center is involved with is the Jewelry Club. Students are allowed to go in and learn how to make jewelry, and check out the annual jewelry sale. The funds will go to the Media Center. They meet every Tuesday after school starting in September. The students in the club can make jewelry after school, during lunch, (whatever choice they make), and are allowed to keep any of the jewelry that they made.

So if you find yourself in a study hall, or just tired of waiting for that lunch bell to ring, go to the Media Center. It is a much quieter place to focus, and to work. Just remember to keep quiet.