East Middle School

Mesa County Valley School District #51 830 Gunnison Avenue, Grand Junction, CO 81501 Tel (970) 254-5020 Fax (970) 242-0513 http://east.mesa.k12.co.us
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To: Highly Effective School Library Program 12/12/2012 Ms. Becky Johnson is the School Librarian at East Middle School. She has over 24 years of experience in public education, first as a middle school Science and Math teacher, and now teaching and collaborating at East Middle School as our Librarian. Becky is a very important part of our Professional Learning Community at East Middle School. She understands standards-based education and supports teachers and students on a daily basis. Because of her extensive content knowledge in many subjects, she is able to work collaboratively with staff to plan units grounded in essential learnings/understandings tied to content standards. She works to integrate 21 st Century skills into the planning she does with teachers. She is on the cutting edge of using social media with her students, allowing them to develop Digital Citizenship skills, while helping them master other important 21 st Century Skills such as collaboration, selfdirection, and information literacy. Her library web page is full of links to interactive opportunities for students and parents. Projects such as the 6th grade Argumentative Writing Blogs, 7th Grade Plate Tectonics Unit in which students created web pages with embedded Google Earth Maps, and the 7 th Grade ELA Interdisciplinary Research Projects about conflict and diversity in Sub- Saharan Africa are just a few examples of the various integrated learning projects Ms. Johnson collaborates with staff on to support student learning across all contents. The East Middle School Staff consider her integral to the academic growth of students. She understands the importance of being able to talk books to students when they enter the library. She is continually reading new adolescent literature so she can make book recommendations to students. She understands the importance of putting the right book in a students hands and works hard to make sure her collection is appropriate for various levels and interests. Ms. Johnson truly exemplifies the definition of a life-long learner. The East Middle School community and District #51 community are lucky to have a librarian with the numerous talents that Becky exemplifies. Respectfully,

Leigh Grasso
Principal East Middle School 830 Gunnison Avenue Grand Junction, Colorado 81501 970-254-5020 leigh.grasso@d51schools.org