School news
Interbay: Students get reason to linger over books
A grant will allow Robinson High School to encourage better reading skills by sprucing up the media center.
By ELISABETH DYER, Times Staff Writer
Published October 24, 2003
Staffers at Robinson High School got some good news last week: a $180,000 grant to transform their media center into a comfortable area with new books, furniture and laptop computers.
"The media center will blend library science mentality with a customer service atmosphere to promote true lifelong learning," said principal Kevin McCarthy. "(Students) will be able to call the media center a home when they have nowhere else to go in the morning or at lunch."
The grant, from the Public Education Network and the New York Life Foundation, was awarded to the Hillsborough Education Foundation and education foundations in San Francisco and Minneapolis.
The Hillsborough foundation hopes to raise an additional $50,000 to complete the project. Teachers will have an active role in choosing the new books, scheduled to arrive this school year.
Robinson boosted its focus on literacy this year after getting a D on the FCATs last year. Students scored low on reading, especially in nonfiction, informational text.
Robinson has been working to get freshmen acclimated to high school by encouraging them to spend free time in the media center. Students who scored in the lowest quartile on the FCAT meet in groups for book talks and book swaps.
"That's where this fits beautifully with our school," McCarthy said. "It's easier in an environment that's friendly and not sterile, and with books that are new."
- Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at 226-3321 or edyer@sptimes.com
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