WTHS IMC

www.wtps.org/wths/imc/index.htm

The mission of Washington Township High School media center supports the district’s mission by providing a learning laboratory where students are taught to be problem solvers, information seeks, avid readers and lifelong learners so as to fully participate in a global society.  Washington Township High School’s IMC is the intellectual hub of the school’s integrated curriculum and the center for learning and research.  The IMC is a collaborative partner with the teachers and students in promoting academic achievement by enabling students to access, evaluate, use and transform information successfully.

Goals

Teaching and Learning

• Provide a four-year sequential program of information literacy instruction, which is integrated into the school curriculum.
• Collaborate with teachers to design resource base units that ensure support the curriculum and ensure that all students and staff are “effective and efficient users of ideas and information.”
• Collaboratively design learning strategies to meet the educational needs of individual students
• Promote physical and intellectual access to all students including those with disabilities

Information Access and Delivery

• Provide intellectual and physical access to a diverse collection that supports the curriculum both within and beyond the school.

• Promote reading to foster life-long learning.
• Network with the community to provide the widest selection of resources for student use.

Program Administration

• Provide professional development and support for teachers and administrators. 
• Establish a well designed public relations program, which advocates for the library’s program and services
• Provide a highly trained professional staff
• Provide adequate support staff
• Prepare a budget that provides adequate funding for all programs
• Evaluate the library’s programs to ensure that the program is meeting the educational needs of the students

The media center is a vital contributor to the academic success of Washington Township High School students. The following overview of our information skills curriculum illustrates the librarians’ role as partners in the instructional process. 

Information literacy instruction is integrated in at all grade levels and with all subject areas, most particularly, through the implementation of a formalized four-year sequential program involving the Social Studies and English curricula. 

·        All ninth grade Social Studies students participate in a four-day media center orientation. 

·        All Social Studies students participate in a sequential program which involves teaching students evaluation using the Internet, searching online databases and locating and using primary documents. 

·        All ninth grade English students receive instruction for six days as part of the Writing Lab.  This serves as their initial introduction to the research process. 

·        The 11^th grade research paper expands upon the foundation developed in the previous grades, as all students are required to research and writes an analysis of a modern American author. 

The media center is critical in integrating technology into the curriculum and this involves all grade levels and all ability levels and is especially relevant to our special needs students.  

The media center celebrates reading throughout the year with independent reading projects, student and faculty book discussion and special events including Teen Read Week, Banned Book Week, Read Across America and National Poetry Month.

The media center sponsors community service projects based on reading.  Last year’s project was Operation U.S. Soldiers Read Across Iraq in which thousands of books were shipped to the soldiers in Iraq and $1000.00 was given to their families This year’s project is “A Book in Their Hands” in which used and new children’s’ and YA books will be collected and given to homeless and women’s shelters.  These community service projects involve the entire school district and the Washington Township Community. 

Resources

There are

• 40,000 titles including books, DVDs, videos, CDs and audiocassettes.
• subscribes to 275 magazines,  8 daily newspapers.
• 22 online databases which provide access to reference books, magazines, scholarly journals, newspapers, images, video and primary documents  via the IMC home page

www.wtps.org/wths/imc/index.html

Computers

            Access to the IMC’s collection and online databases is provided by 80 network computers.  Each computer is equipped with Microsoft Word, FrontPage, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher, Photoshop and the online databases.  Two of these computers are equipped with video editing programs and R/W DVDs.  There are also 5 laptop computers, 9 scanners, 5R/W CDs, 2 digital cameras, 2 digital video camera, 3 LCD projectors, and 2 Smart Boards. 

The IMC home pages provides links to selected web sites, as well as easy access to the online databases, teacher assignments, MLA style guide and access to the librarians.

Awards

The NJ Association of School Librarians’ Winnebago Progressive Media Award for the best library program in the State of New Jersey.

Ms. Gaughan received the Future Leaders Award from the  NJ Association of School Librarians