Glen Crest LIT Director wins grant from Illinois School Library Media Association

  Pam McDermott, Library Information and Technology Center Director at Glen Crest Middle School was awarded a $1500 grant from the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA).  This award enables McDermott to work with the two 7th grade social studies teachers , Katie McGrath and Deb Pruitt, to purchase nonfiction materials that will be used to create and develop a curriculum that supports and is aligned to the National Common Core Standards.  There were 129  schools in Illinois that applied for the grant and Glen Crest was one of the ten schools chosen. 

     The Common Core State Standards Initiative, supported and created by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers, sets grade-by-grade content requirements for K-12 in English language arts and math.  The consortium has also developed science and history/social studies standards.  The Glen Crest social studies goal is to use the Industrial Revolution as the content area they will be focusing on in their planning and material purchasing. 

     The teachers and McDermott plan to have their Common Core Curriculum on the Industrial Revolution in place by March 1, 2013.  The students will be involved in the process of researching information by May.  McDermott stated, “This grant is a wonderful opportunity for librarians to work directly with teachers, creating a new unit of study that integrates not only the National Common Core Standards, but involves the Illinois Library Information Standards, the Ilinois State Standards for Social Studies, the National Education Technical Standards and the American Association of School Libraries 21st Century Library Skills.  Needless to say, we are excited for this opportunity at Glen Crest.” For more information about the ISLMA Grant, call the Glen Crest office at 630-459-5220.