Head librarian presented with award from President
On Nov. 21, head librarian Carolyn Foote was presented with one of 10 “Champions of Change” awards from President Barak Obama in the White House.
At the award ceremony, the President’s arrival was a complete surprise to the nominees, who were not expecting his appearance.
“It was very exciting,” Foote said. “We didnt know he was coming. He was rolling out this new initiative, so he wanted to come. They didnt tell us ’til the last minute.”
Foote was being recognized for taking new initiatives for teaching children and communities how to use new technology, such as iPads, towards creative approaches and alternatives to learning.
“[The project] is called Champions of Change and I was nominated by a couple of people,” Foote said. “They had thousands of nominations and they picked out 10 of us. I was the only librarian.”
This past June, President Obama decided to launch the ConnectEd Initiative, aimed at connecting 99 percent of American students to high speed internet access for the next five years. In order to see his plan through, President Obama challenged the federal government and individual states, along with school districts, to implement changes in their respective communities.
Foote bought and experimented with six iPads, loaning them out to students and teachers, and having them take surveys on what they thought of them. She then shared the results with the administrators and helped them decide if iPads were a good choice for the school.
“[The project] was just looking for people who pushed for changes in their communities,” Foote said. “Sometimes I want to try things out.”
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