In recent weeks, the media center’s layout has been changed to accommodate the various activities that is is used for by teachers and students alike. All of the bookshelves and armchairs are on one side, while the other side now functions as a classroom.
“[Principal Rebecca Braaten, Assistant Principal Clifton Spears], and I want to make the space more accessible and appropriate for different areas. So we put the reading and the books and the reading area on one side and then the instructional area and the study tables on the other side,” said media specialist Christine Holland.
During the move to the new building several years ago, Holland did not see the big picture of the layout of the media center, and once the staff and students had moved in, did not see any reason to change it.
“I was apprehensive at first because I didn’t think that we could move the shelves and the books over there and have it all fit, but now that I look at it, it’s much better,” said Holland.
The classroom area, which is equipped with several tables and a pull-down projector, can be used for classes, informational meetings, and teacher training.
Several students have helped in the rearranging. A group of Interact members volunteered to move the book shelves, including junior Bennett Solomon.
“We moved books off the shelves, we moved the shelves, and then we had to put all the books back on,” said Solomon.
After about an hour of hard work, the shelves were arranged in straight rows and the reading area was repositioned. Other students, such as junior Debajyoti Das, volunteer regularly during lunch.
“I just help out with shelving books and anything at the desk, like checking in or out books and helping out with printing,” said Das.
Now that the rearranging is done, teachers have made plans to use the space. English teacher Jennifer Andriano has already allowed her students to use the tables for work.
“I like the tables . . . because it gives students a chance to spread out and do project-type assignments instead of having to sit on the floor or in the hallway,” said Andriano.
Andriano is also looking forward to using the Chromebooks in the space, so that she can help her students without having to constantly be moving around the media center’s rows of desktop computers.
Freshman Elizabeth Perkins used the media center to work on a project about Fahrenheit 451 for her English class, taught by Andriano. The tables turned out to be an ideal location for her work.
“We had to pick one of the characters and make a life sized poster and write quotes about them around it,” said Perkins. Instead of having to uncomfortably work in a cramped classroom, Perkins is one of many students who have taken advantage of the new layout.
“It made it easier to write so that we weren’t on the floor,” said Perkins.
The Macs, which used to be where the new tables are located, are no longer in the media center and have been moved to the fine arts building, where they were dispersed among the art teachers to use in their classes. Some students expressed their disappointment that they will no longer be able to use the Macs, such as junior Carter Difonzo.
“It’s gonna affect me. I’m never going there again, because I want to get on the Apple computers,” said Difonzo.
However, he does understand the benefits of having more space for teaching.
“I think classes will have more area to put their students after they’re done using their computers,” he said, “which I think is efficient.”
