Learning through Books, Media and Technology

ARTICLES THIS ISSUE:

1993 Administrative Leadership Awards

Accentuating the positive

1993 President's Award Winner

The energy of synergy

This is my country --- an my school

We are the world: our success is yours

Social sciences and technology --- a natural combination

No question of relevance

Inspiring students to speak out

Big ideas prepare students for the future

Open doors, open minds

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Good Ideas! is published by CSLA

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(415) 692-2350

1993 President's Award Winner: Debbie Abilock

Debbie Abilock, librarian at the Nueva School for Learning in Hillsborough, is the winner of the 1993 CMLEA Presidents Award.

This award spotlights a school-site credentialed library media teacher whose work with students and classroom teachers best exemplifies the roles of teacher, information 5pecialist, and instructional consultant as described in Information Power. Debbie Abilock is the fifth person to win this honor and she definitely represents what is, best in our profession!

Debbie has earned the enthusiastic praise of her administrators, classroom colleagues, library assistant parents, and students. In fact, it is in their words that we can best appreciate the scope and depth of her talents and contributions:

A parent wrote, "Any good school has a qualified, conscientious staff. But it will have a few staff members who are more than that; they are the people who set the intellectual and pedagogical tone to the school, who define the agenda of what is important. At Nueva, Debbie Abilock is one of these people."

When it comes to developing curriculum, Debbie gets eagerly involved as evidenced by the teacher who said that Debbie "…helps plan curriculum with all grades and researches all possible resources to support. that curriculum. Debbie helped me develop curriculum on the Middle Ages, the Asian American experience, the Renaissance mythology, the Civil War, the civil rights movement…" etc.

In addition, Debbie possesses a broad base of knowledge that she shares with everyone. Her executive director wrote, "Debbie is a wellspring of support for the staff. She is an avid reader who supplies teachers and administrators with the latest in research from learning styles to curriculum approaches And this is affirmed by a colleague who states, "A lot of my growth as a teacher I can attribute to Debbie's untiring nourishment and support."

And Debbie also keeps current with the latest in educational technology. Her library assistant wrote, "This year Debbie has added two CD-ROM systems, Proquest, a magazine index and SIRS, a social science database, to our on-line Dialog database. She is working closely with our computer specialist to establish a local computer. network for Nueva, which will enable our students and staff to access the global world of information on the Internet as well as news from school at home." More Importantly, her assistant adds, "Debbie strives to make information meaningful, a tool for children to build thinking skills in the context of acadeihic life."

In an attempt to sum up her contributions in one sentence, another teacher wrote, "Not .only does she run an excellent and user friendly library, she teaches reading and research, serves as a student advisor administers our lit club, helps develop curriculum, evaluates programs and ,staff, and in some place she calls her spare time she reads an enormous number of books and articles." But the most significant summation comes from one of her fourth-grade students, Hilary McQuaide, who said, "…Debbie is the best librarian in the whole world."

• The Nueva School (Grades Pre-K-8, enrollment 310)
  6565 Skyline Blvd., Hillsborough, CA 94010; (415) 348-2272
  Dr. Anabel Jensen, Director