News & Announcements

A Letter From Linda Burke

Posted on May 14, 2018

By Linda Burke, Librarian

Dearest AWS community,

It is just a few weeks until I retire. I happily anticipate more time with my family and favorite activities. Before I go, though, I offer two bits of advice.

Read to your children. Read to them often and for as many years as they will let you. Read aloud taking turns after that. If you need to help them with their reading, do that at a different time. Let read aloud time be for the story, not a teaching moment. They will soak in the story at whatever level they will. If you are in doubt about what to read there are lists on the library page of the website and your new librarian has a wealth of knowledge about children’s literature.

If you are not already, become media literate. It has always been important but is now essential to being a good citizen. Be sure you know how to research to get accurate information based on facts and scholarship so you can help your children navigate the internet landmines we all encounter these days. A good start for understanding the difficulties your children will have is a free online resource called Cyberwise. It is companion information to the Cyber Civics program we have introduced in our middle school.  We have a collection of academic databases we purchase for our eighth through twelfth graders. They have tutorials as well as extensive help sections. If you would like the sign-in information, please email me. Also, there is an article, “News Literacy” on the library page with recommendations that can help you if you need it.

As I leave I look back on twenty-nine wonderful years getting to do extremely meaningful work with all the special children who have taught me so much and given me such joy. I am deeply grateful to my colleagues and all the parents for the encouragement, support and help you have given me through the years. I am among the luckiest of people to have had this time with you.

With Love,
Linda Burke

 

“I especially love the activities like gardening and handwork. I believe these skills are important in cognitive development. Many schools today are mandated to focus on academic achievement and testing while forgetting the building blocks of learning to think for ourselves and to be creative. ”