CLERMONT – Congratulations to Aurelia M. Cole K-8 Academy and library media specialist Shelly Meneses. They are being recognized for having an outstanding library program that is fully integrated into the school’s curriculum.
The school is now a Florida Power-Library School. It joins Grassy Lake and Lost Lake elementary schools; East Ridge and Cecil E. Gray middle schools, and Leesburg High School, all of which earned the designation in prior years.
Meneses and Principal Scott Voytko will represent Aurelia M. Cole K-8 Academy at the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) conference in November, when it will be officially recognized. It will remain a Florida Power-Library School through 2029, when school leaders will have the opportunity to renew the designation.
To be a Florida Power-Library School, the library media specialist must have first completed three full school years of service working as a full-time, certified school library media specialist. Other elements of the application include student, teacher, administrator and parent surveys; interviews with the principal and library media specialists; and a comprehensive digital portfolio demonstrating evidence of each component of the EXC3L rubric, which provides a continuum for developing outstanding school library media programs that enhance and support the school’s education agenda. Components of the rubric include digital citizenship instruction, literature appreciation, instructional partnership and more.
The Florida Power-Library Schools program is sponsored by the Florida Association of Supervisors of Media and the Florida Department of Education’s Library Media Services. It is based on the fact that quality library programs have been proven to improve student achievement.