Sixteen pairs of engaged, innocent eyes stare at the reader, completely enthralled with every syllable coming out of his mouth. Upper School librarian Tinsley Silcox, book in hand, waves his free arm in the air during the climax of the chapter and watches as the kids laugh and throw their arms up in unison. He smiled with them. He’d never known how rewarding this was.
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After 35 years in the Lower School Library, Barbara Kinkead retired, leaving a large portion of the school empty. So starting last year, Silcox and the other Middle and Upper School librarians — Teresa Katsulos and Elyse Chevallier — began planning how to fill them.
Along with interim Lower School librarian Kaysie Montgomery, they’ve settled on taking time out of their own schedules to teach the Lower Schoolers.
For most of the librarians, especially Silcox, teaching Lower School students is something new. However, his experience has a little bit of a learning curve, especially because of his familiarity with Upper School students.
“I’ve been teaching college and Upper School for over 25 years, and now suddenly I’m working with third graders again on a regular basis,” Silcox said. “But you know what? It’s a ton of fun. It’s very rewarding, and that’s what library time is all about.”
Between his Lower and Upper School classes, while the curriculum and tone might be different, Silcox sees underlying similarities. And so, despite the age gap of his students, Silcox thinks that the lessons he teaches and the meaning of his work are the same: to help them ignite and explore their passions.
“I teach a library class here called Introduction to Research Methodology 101, which is very different from sitting and reading a scary book in a funny voice which I do twice a week,” Silcox said. “But the cool thing is that the objective is the same: to inspire people to get excited about learning.”
Unlike Silcox, this year isn’t Katsulos’ first time working with Lower School students. After teaching English at younger levels, Katsulos welcomes the change with open arms.
“Before I came to St Mark’s, I taught in a preschool. I taught in a Spanish Immersion preschool, and I was their English teacher for 3 and 4-year-olds,” Katsulos said. “I love that age. These kids are so smart, and it’s been a joy.”
In the library, Katsulos and Montgomery co-teach first and second graders. Once every eight days — every rotation — they meet together to discuss what to teach. Because of the ease of using traditional systems used in the library, the curriculum is very simple, providing room to arrange for fun activities in the library.
“The whole curriculum is based on learning the Dewey Decimal System, and because it’s so organized, it’s like teaching the boys how to find things with a map.” Katsulos said. “We had a scavenger hunt a couple of weeks ago, and it was fabulous because it’s a small enough library that they don’t get overwhelmed.”
Aside from taking care of young Marksmen in the library, Katsulos works with Montgomery to teach students library etiquette, and more recently, the librarians are teaching about some of the award-winning books.
“In first grade, we concentrate on teaching them not just how to act in the library, but also the whole series of different kinds of award-winning books, like the Caldecott Medal,” Katsulos said. “We teach all the award winners, as many as we can, to the first graders for the second grade.”
In fourth grade, Chevallier is doing the same. However, with even older students, Chevallier is encouraging students to present book recommendations of their favorite books from over the summer or that they have been reading on their own.
“We’ve been introducing the (award-winning) books to the students, doing what I call book talks. It’s basically presenting a book to students, describing it and giving a little summary to pique their interest,” Chevallier said. “What we are doing now is having the boys give book talks. Each student is giving a short minute long presentation on a book they read over the summer that they’re excited about sharing with their classmates.”
After transitioning from the Student Store, Montgomery wishes to make it a magical place for all her students. For her, a library has always been a place for community and enjoying time with friends. With her kids past school age, Montgomery enjoys working with younger students again.
“I love nothing more than when I come in and see somebody on the bench in the reading room, just fully intent on a book,” Montgomery said. “You know, my kids are young adults now, and so it’s been fun relearning how to best get the younger Marksmen to focus and pay attention.”
