Building Our STEM Station

In our quest to make our media center a student-friendly learning wonderland, we're installing some STEM projects in one area of the library. So far, we have installed an aquaponics system so that kids can see how various forms of life live in interdependency in an enclosed ecosystem. We know that there is a huge push for kids to invest more in the science, tech, engineering and math fields and we hope to get the ball rolling on that early in life. Elementary school seems the perfect time to introduce some of these things to the kiddos.

In the media center at Lely Elementary, we want to build things that make the kids think, wonder, ponder, and question. We want them to walk in, see something, and say, "Whoa!" We want them to be so interested in what they are seeing that they will ask question after question and maybe, down the road, explore more. After all, we are a library, where learning is paramount. 

We wrote a Donors Choose grant to get the materials: and aquaponics pipe system, a fish tank, and a grow light. After setting up the fish tank, we introduced fish to the ecosystem first. We needed them to cycle the water and dirty it up a bit. The pipes for planting sat empty until we brought in some lettuce starts. Those did not fare well. It seems as if the grow light was too strong on the top level and it burned up the plants. Now we are in the troubleshooting phase of the journey. We replaced the lettuce starts on the top rack with heartier strawberry plants and kept the lettuce starts on the bottom level. They seem to be doing fairly well. We also put some lettuce seeds in the bottom rack of cups to supplement. So far, so good.

The idea is that kids will see that ecosystems are interdependent places where animals and plants live in harmony, both benefitting from the other and needing the other to stay alive. We show how the system works, how it takes the water from the fish tank, runs it through the pipes that hold the plants (which filters the water), and returns that water to the tank. Kids see the fish water soak the plant roots and come back clean to the tank. They think it is cool and they are full of questions, which we answer to the best of our ability.

Many kids come in just to see the fish. We love that. If we use the fish as a hook (no pun intended, lol) to get kids interested in the system, so much the better. That's a start. As they take in more of the system, or get to see the times when the water cycles, they will have more and more questions. 

The aquaponics system has been a huge hit with the kids. It is the first of several STEM projects that we will have in our STEM Station. We hope that the others are as well-received as our aquaponics system!

The NEW Pride Plaza!

 One of the things that I love about being a media specialist is that my reach can be felt throughout the entire school and not just in one classroom. I can team up with different groups of teachers and staff to create and execute projects, and I try to take advantage of that as much as possible. 

A few months ago, we created the Garden of Readin', a beautification project just outside the media center. That went over really well! This Thanksgiving break, we took on another area of the school that needed some renovation, the outdoor courtyard just outside the cafeteria. Over the years, the mural had faded, the tables were neglected, and it became a home for trash cans and other assorted paraphernalia. It was an unattractive mess. This area became our new project. 

Pride Plaza BEFORE the renovation

Over the course of the first weekend of Thanksgiving break, a team of teachers painted, planted, and cleaned up the area to make it an inviting area for kids, staff, and parents. The idea was that parents could come in and have lunch with their kids in the plaza or we could hold some outdoor events in this area. It was an area of school that needed to be refurbished.

Things went well over the course of those two days. We painted, planted, hung canvas shade sails, and cleaned up the area. The area now looks crisp, clean, colorful, and inviting. We could not be happier with the results. Upon returning to school, the kids seemed to love the new plaza. They remarked about how cool it looked and immediately wanted to eat lunch on the plaza. 

This is another example of what we can do as a staff and student body when we take ownership of our surroundings and work to improve them. Now, we are looking at other areas of the campus that might need a little work. Here are some pics of the finished Pride Plaza. 

 

How I Got Student Loan Forgiveness!

Ever since I posted on social media last week that I got student loan forgiveness, I have been inundated by people asking exactly how that happened. I thought it would be best to go through the process here instead of giving piecemeal information to each person who asked. For the record, my loans were forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. That program states that if you work in a public service job (teachers, librarian, police, firefighter, charitable organization, etc.), then your loan will be forgiven after 120 on-time payments (ten years). It sounds easy but before the new rule change, only a few dozen out of thousands had actually gotten forgiveness through this program. For more details about the new rules, click the link here.

I had been paying student loans off and on since 1993. The balance never went down and when I went back to school, I put those loans into forbearance. All of my loans were different. It was difficult to keep track of. In 2007, legislation passed for the PSLF program and public servants who accumulated ten years of on-time payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer, could start having their loans dismissed beginning in 2017. It seemed like a good deal. Take a lower paying job and get this benefit down the road. Many tried to take advantage but were met with frustration at how the program was actually administered. 

Upon moving to Florida in 2016, I consolidated all of my outstanding student loans into a qualifying PSLF loan and enrolled in an income-driven program so that no more than 10% of my disposable income would go toward payment of my student loan. Now that I was in the right program, all I had to do was make on-time payments until 2027 and my loans would be forgiven. The payments that I made before 2016 did not qualify because I did not have the right type of loans or was not in the right repayment program. So from 1993-2016, those payments did not get me any closer to student loan forgiveness. Bummer.

Last month, when changes to this plan went into effect, suddenly the payments that I made from 2007, when the program started, until 2016, when I consolidated into the correct loan payment program, were eligible. FedLoan Servicing, my student loan servicer, sent me an email saying that under the new rules, 82 previously non-qualifying payments (7 years' worth of payments) would now qualify if I could certify employment for those months. Needless to say, I downloaded the form, filled out my portion, and sent it off to the Human Resources Department of my previous school district. When it came back, I uploaded it and waited. Those 82 months, along with the 60 months that I had paid while in the correct repayment program, were many more than the 120 I needed for forgiveness. And so, I waited. Saturday morning, while having coffee on the patio, I opened the email from FedLoan Servicing telling me that my student loans had been forgiven. Wow! I was shocked! I quickly printed out the forms before they could change their minds! 

I know that many believe that you can get your loans forgiven just because you're a teacher or work in public service, but it's not that easy. There are two things you MUST do. First, you must make 120 on-time payments. Second, you must consolidate your loans into a PSLF-eligible loan in order to take advantage of forgiveness. Often those eligible loans come with income-driven parameters to keep the payments manageable while making payments. Once you meet those criteria, your loans will be forgiven.

The new Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness allows for previous payments that had not been counted under the old rules to count toward forgiveness. That is the big difference and it really is big. For me, it was 82 payments, or about $40,000 in payments that had not previously counted but did now. 

I hope that everyone who works in a public service field and has student loans will take the time to learn about the new rules. These new rules are only good for one calendar year as a way to grant forgiveness to those who should have had it by now but didn't because of the confusion and mismanagement of the program. The rule change has made a huge difference in so many public servants' lives, including my own.  

Podcast - Learning at Lely - School Culture

The latest episode of our podcast, Learning at Lely, is up! Tune in for a great conversation about School Culture. You can also subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and other major podcast hosting services. Learning at Lely - School Culture

 

Our New Book Vending Machine: How Did That Happen?

I first saw the idea of a book vending machine a few years ago. I thought it was an amazing way to get kids fired up about reading but the possibilities of getting one were daunting. Those things are expensive. Worth it, but expensive. I put the thought out of my mind for a time, until Paul Holimon, a colleague from my middle school days, sent me an article about a school in Oklahoma that was able to get a book vending machine. Sooooo, I started thinking that maybe this was possible after all.

 I took the article and some preliminary research about specs and pricing to the principal (at the time, Tammy Brown). She loved the idea but, like me, didn't know how we could pulls off something like this. After all, it is a huge deal. We stewed on the idea throughout our virtual year. I mentioned it to every staff person I saw, hoping to brainstorm some ideas about how to pay for something like this. We had tentative approval to get a book vending machine...if we could pay for it. I thought of a Donors Choose grant but that is one heck of a steep grant that would probably not get funded. There really was no money to do this.

Then one day, I was talking to two of our superstar teachers, Jamie Sebold and Megan Noe, who floated the idea of using walk-a-thon money to pay for it. Over the past two years, we raised a lot of money through our walk-a-thons and we had never decided where we wanted to use that money. They suggested to Tammy Brown that we should use some of it to buy a book vending machine. Suddenly, we had secured funding!

After contacting Global Vending Group, I picked our model and we paid a bit extra for a custom wrap that would make our Lely machine stand out. After some snags arranging payment for this (there is a lot of red tape and processes to pay for something like this), we were ready to formally place our order. Global Vending Group had our order. Now, it was time to wait. And wait we did.

In the brochure, they say the wait is between three and four months. It was a bit longer for us because of supply chain and labor issues at the company. However, last Monday, we got the email that our machine had shipped! It would be in Naples in three days' time. Now, our only worry was if it would fit through our media center  door. On the literature from the company, it said that the shortest side was 35" and our door was 34.5". I had emailed with the company this past summer to make sure it would fit and was assured that indeed it was only 32-34" on its shortest side. We held our breath, hoping that that information was accurate. 

The truck pulled into the parking lot and it was time to jump into action. The driver would deliver to the curb and we had to take it from there. Yanka Ruiz, our amazing facilities director, was ready. She had our pallet lift and moved that machine to the media center door. But, it would not fit through the door opening on the pallet. We had to take it off the pallet. After getting a few staff members involved to help, we lowered the machine on its side and tried to get it through the door. No luck. The door push bar was in the way. Yanka had a solution. She took the door off the hinges and we set it aside. The machine coasted through the opening smooth as butter. At that moment, we all let out a collective sigh of relief. Our machine fit through the door to the media center. We were home free.

We got the machine upright and unwrapped all of the plastic and cardboard to reveal a beautiful, fun, kid-friendly book vending machine. It is striking! After we got it into place, we were finished for the day. Kids came by to see what all of the hubbub was about. After all, we had blocked the hallway while getting the machine through the door and they had to take a detour, so they knew something big was happening. As kids walked by, we heard lots of gasps and comments about how cool the machine was. It was having the desired effect. 

Now, we have the machine turned on and everything tested out perfectly. We still have to load books into the machine to get it ready for our new reading incentive program. More on that later. We have a special day of events planned for October 20 to celebrate our new book vending machine. We think this will inspire many kids to read, find "their books", and have a fun and festive environment around the idea of reading. Needless to say, we are so stoked to have this book vending machine in our school and plan to use it to increase the reading among our kids. Stay tuned for updates! 

I Recommend...

We talk all of the time about student voice and choice. We aim to hand over the decision-making responsibility to our students as they go through our school system. We coach them in what makes a good decision, ramifications of those decisions, and then we let them begin making more and more decisions. One of the things I love to see is when kids start making decisions about their learning. There are so many ways we can incorporate student decision-making into the everyday lives of kids at school. I see teachers everyday giving kids opportunities to choose learning experiences, collaborative teams, and ways to meet their curricular standards. 

In the media center, we also want to give kids a voice in their learning. One of the ways we have decided to give students voice is to have our kiddos make book recommendations. As adults, we make book recommendations to kids all of the time. However, a lot of times the books we recommend do not resonate with our kids because we read them from our perspective as adults, not as kids would read them. We mean well, but we often miss the mark. There are also times that kids will reject recommendations from adults because they consider them "teacher books" and not books that they would want to read.

We started incorporating student recommendations this year by creating a gallery in the media center windows. When students pass by, they see pictures of our kids with a book that they recommend in their hands. Kids can identify their schoolmates and see what books they love. They may be more inclined to pick up those books if they know that their friends have read them. One of the most powerful ways to get kids reading is to have peers recommend books. It helps build a culture of reading when we all talk about our reading, and over time, kids learn to be proud of all of the books they have read and their future reading goals. Our student book recommendations are a hit. We knew they would be. Our kids are using their voices to celebrate their reading. We could not be happier about it.

Podcast: Learning at Lely - Leader in Me Update

Our latest podcast is up! You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcasting service. Click the link below to listen.

Learning at Lely - Leader in Me Update