Welcome Back, Panthers!

After a week and a half of school, I have now met all of the classes Kindergarten through fifth grade.
It is amazing how everyone has grown up over the summer, both mentally and physically!  It was a great rest and rejuvenation time for everyone, especially me!

By now you are aware of our new program, The Leader in Me.  This program will enable our students to reach for their potential in a variety of ways.  We have a large group of 6th, 7th and 8th graders that have volunteered to help out in the library once a week during their lunch recess.  This is a big help in the Media Center, as well as a learning opportunity for the students themselves!  We salute these young ladies and young men.

Please ask your students what day is Library day! Knowing when is a great way to help your students return their books on time.  They all like to get something new, especially with the new books that we have in the Media Center!  Come by and visit any time...I am at SPX on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Media Center, but you can always reach me at lratkey@spxparish.org.

Thanks to all of you that have volunteered to help in the Media Center!  Wendy Britton, our volunteer coordinator extrodinaire, is currently putting the schedule together and we will implement it as soon as possible.  Please let either Wendy or myself know if there are any questions or problems....

Thanks again for allowing me to work with your students, it is a pleasure and a privilege to be here at SPX!

Mrs. Lynn Ratkey
Media Specialist

     Please let me thank all who helped with the Book Fair, from setup to tear down. I could not have done it without my co-chairs, Laurie McCormick and Tracy Murphy. They took over after I called in sick on setup day and handled the volunteers with a breeze!

     After that fun, frenzied week of Book Fair sales, the holidays are looming ahead of us...I can't believe that we are ten days away from Thanksgiving! The next six weeks will bring joy, anticipation and stress to one and all...My solution is to slow down, breathe deeply and read a good book:  a holiday favorite or a new classic, if just to break away from reality for a little while...

     Make those memories magical...read.

Good Morning! 

I can't believe that we are into the double digits days of October!  This year is flying by....

A couple of reminders:

Please try to return your library books within the two-week check out period.  It really helps the students to get new books and the books have less tendency to get lost!  Remember to have a designated place for your student's library materials and make sure that they do not have any food or drinks while they are reading.  
A book was just returned recently that I will need to delete due to the pages being stuck together, all due to water damage.  Please be careful...

Book Fair is fast approaching!  We will set up on Friday, November 2nd and we will open up for business on Sunday, November 4th after all Masses. Each student in grades K-5 will have a preview day and a purchase day from Monday, November 5th through Thursday, November 8th.  We will pack up Thursday afternoon.  Middle school students will preview and purchase during their study halls.  We will also open up Tuesday through Thursday at 7:45 am and we will be open until 3:45 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. 
Kids Ink is again our supplier for the book fair.  This is a local company and the quality of their books is outstanding!  We look forward to this special event!

I understand that comments were not able to post earlier.  Please try again...I have adjusted the settings and it should work now!

Happy Reading!

Mrs. Lynn Ratkey
SPX Media Specialist

Schedules for classes 2012-2013

Hi Everybody!

Just wanted everyone to know the library media class schedules for the 2012-2013 school year.
As most of you know, I am at school three days each week, from Tuesday through Thursday. If you need to get in touch with me when I am not at school, please feel free to email me at lratkey@spxparish.org.  I check my email at least once a day and will get back in touch with you ASAP.

Tuesdays:
                 School Improvement Committee 7:15-7:45 am
                 5th grade Mrs. Kavanaugh     8:15-8:55 am
                  Kindergarten Mrs. Sitzmann 9:00-9:40 am
                  Kindergarten Mrs. Tierney   9:45-10:25 am
                  4th grade reading group       12:30-1:45 pm      
                  Planning time                       1:45-2:55 pm
                  Dismissal duty                      3:00-3:30 pm

Wednesdays:
                  Welcome Gym duty             7:30-7:45 am
                   Mass                                    8:15-9:15 am
                   3rd grade Mrs. O/B            9:30-10:10 am
                  1st grade Ms. Warrick        12:05-12:45 pm
                  1st grade Mrs. Ritter           12:45-1:25 pm
                  3rd grade Ms. Mattingly       2:10-2:50 pm

Thursdays:
                  5th grade Mrs. Chriss          8:15-8:55 am
                  4th grade Mrs. Cook            9:00-9:40 am
                  4th grade Mr. Doyle            9:45-10:25 am
                  4th grade reading group      12:30-1:15pm
                  2nd grade Mrs. Stocker       1:20-2:00 pm
                  2nd grade Mrs. Austin         2:05-2:45 pm
                   Dismissal duty                     3:00-3:30 PM

Library books are checked out for 2 weeks, but we checkout each and every week.  Your child is allowed to have 2 books checked out at one time. (Kindergarten is allowed to have 1 book checked out.)  If they do not return their books, they are allowed to check out a paperback book, until the hard back books are returned.
Thank you for your cooperation with this matter.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Lynn Ratkey

Volunteer moms

• Thank you so much for sharing the gift of time with us in the Media Center!  
• Remember that this is WEEK 2 in the volunteer cycle and I will be seeing some of you for the first time...
• Please try to come a couple of minutes early so that can I explain the routine, if this is your first time as a library volunteer...
• See you soon!

What's up?

This is the first posting in my blog... Hurrah!  I have taken the leap of faith and decided that with all of the thoughts going on in my mind, some of them would be worth putting down on paper, at least virtually!

Welcome to the SPX Media Center, otherwise know as the Cain Library...

We are going to talk about books that you have read, books you want to read and maybe a few more things that YOU want to talk about...

Let's get started...

What was the book that you read over the summer that you liked the best?  Why was it your favorite?