Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Rhonda Sixto, media specialist/librarian at Heritage High School, presents the Starbooks program to team teachers Kay Steele and Brian Whited's British Literature class. Rhonda Sixto is the media specialist/librarian at Heritage High School. She is the Times Free Press Teacher of the Month for February. Ms. Sixto was photographed on February 28, 2020.
Pick up a book from the stack on the table. Reflect on your first impressions: Do you like the cover? Read the back, read the first few pages: What do you think? Did the author hook you? Do you want to read more?
This activity, a "book tasting" in Heritage High School's "Starbooks Cafe" - also known as its media center - is meant to introduce students to books they may not have encountered before.
Maybe they'll discover a new author or a new series. Maybe they'll check out a new book and take it home. At least that's what Heritage High's media specialist Rhonda Sixto hopes the activity will inspire.
Sixto has worked as Heritage's media specialist for four years now. Through activities such as Starbooks, a Visiting Authors Speaker series, a book club and even a Harry Potter-themed lock-in, Sixto hopes to engage with students and inspire them to love reading. She hopes to inspire students to become lifelong readers because of the doors it can open for them, she said.
TEACHER PROFILE
Name: Rhonda SixtoSchool: Heritage High School, Catoosa County SchoolsGrade Level/Position: Media specialistTeaching Philosophy: “I really want the library to be seen as the school’s living room.”
"One thing that I want to help you do is finding a book that you really love, not just something you have to read, but something you'll enjoy," Sixto said as she stood in front of a group of seniors visiting the library through their British Literature class.
Sixto is passionate about literacy, but she wasn't always interested in reading. In high school, she fell in love with poetry after a teacher introduced her to Langston Hughes and, later, the works of Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison.
After studying English in college, Sixto taught English Language Arts in middle and high schools for more than 13 years. At first, working as a librarian was just a dream job. She never thought she would have the opportunity, but then the position opened at Heritage High in Catoosa County, Georgia.
"Rhonda brings an element to the library and the students to integrate reading and get them excited about books, especially more reluctant readers," said Heritage's other media specialist Chris Douglass.
While Sixto focuses on the literacy side of things, Douglass manages the school's technology and helps run the library's maker space and virtual reality equipment.
But Sixto doesn't just love reading. She loves her students.
Grace Price, a junior, is a library aide during one of her class periods. She helps Sixto plan the library's events, but she also talks to Sixto about her dreams and her problems.
Price likes to read "high fantasy" books such as the Lord of the Rings or the Game of Thrones series. She said "high fantasy" books are fantasy books that aren't just focused on a romance story. She'll ask Sixto for recommendations and talks to Sixto about her dream of writing novels or what to do when Charlotte, her German shepherd, went missing.
THE SERIES
The Teacher of the Month series recognizes a local educator who is making a difference in the classroom every day. It was launched in September 2019. Nominations are accepted each month from parents, students, community members and even other teachers. The winner is selected by an external committee and awarded a variety of prizes.For more information or to nominate a teacher, visit here.
"I feel like she actually cares about us. She wants us to succeed," she said. "I feel like she's in my corner."
Andrew Moser, a senior, also works in the library two periods of the day. He has a paid position as a tech specialist working with Douglass, but he was drawn to the library when he started high school.
Moser is a picky reader, though. He also likes fantasy series, but mostly books with mythology themes. He doesn't read a lot.
But he participated in Sixto's "Starbooks Cafe" and said he was surprised by some of the books he encountered.
"It was very interesting," Moser said. "I read a bunch of books I've never read in my life."
For a week, classes of students circulated in and out of the library for the Starbooks activity, but every day during Heritage High's one-hour open campus during lunch, anywhere from 100 to 200 students might find themselves in the library reading, working together in small groups, crafting or studying.
Sixto said she wants the media center to be a "place of support" for students and faculty.
"I want them to see me as approachable and see the media center as a place that's inviting and a place they know they can find support," Sixto said. "This might sound corny, but I really want the library to be seen as the school's living room."
Contact Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.