CHS Media Field Trip

One of my favorite parts of my job is the many different activities I get to do with our students.  Yesterday was another example.  One of my longstanding friends, Tim Stuart, is the media specialist at Citrus High School.  He asked me to chaperone an annual field trip that he was taking some of the Seniors on.  This trip was going to the Barnes & Noble Book Store in Ocala.  Now while I enjoy going to the book store and looking through the books and magazines this trip, as was explained to me, was going to be work mixed in with some fun.  Mr. Stuart put out an offer to seniors at CHS to go on the trip to help him purchase new books for the school’s media center.  Media Centers often have resources to purchase materials through a mixture of budgeted funds, donations and fund raising.  Throughout the year when a CHS student asks for a book that the media center doesn’t have, or a book or book series that the student would like the media center to have, Mr. Stuart asks the student to submit to title/request on a digital request form he created using Google Docs.   When we arrived at B&N Mr. Stuart provided each student with a printed list of the books they were responsible for locating and to bring them back to him for review.  Mr. Stuart brought his laptop and as the students would bring him the books he would review them, double verify using his laptop, to make sure that CHS does not already have them and also checking on any reviews or feedback that has been written about the book.  As the morning went on the pile of books grew and grew.  The students were also provided an opportunity once they had completed finding and bring Mr. Stuart their assigned books to search for other books that they felt would be of interest to other students.  The students represent a broad cross-section of the student body and so did the student’s personal book suggestions.  Students brought up books ranging from Sci-fi, classic stories to vegan diets and other topics for healthy living.

After leaving Barnes and Nobel we had just enough time to have a quick lunch at Moe’s and get the students back to CHS before dismissal.

I have to share with you once again how impressed I am with our county’s young people.  When I am with high school students, and seniors in particular, one of the first questions those in education will often ask them is, “what are your plans for the future”?  Their answers often tell lots about their interests, backgrounds and their future plans.  I love this opportunity of learning about each of them and obtaining a little insight into their lives.  These students all had some plan for next year.  One was going to FSU to study Marine Biology, another was planning to study business at College of Central Florida because they want to open a Bakery in Citrus County and felt in order to be successful they should have a background in business education.  Another is going to be a Nurse Practitioner, another a Counselor and one would like to become an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) to help pay for their college expenses. Others weren’t sure exactly what profession they would like to take up but would begin by taking basic courses by attending a Florida College.

These young people represent Citrus County and will eventually become our future leaders. Today’s students often have greater challenges to endure than what we had to face at their ages.  Please encourage them,  support them, help them.  An old high school friend of mine recently reminded me of a quote by W. H. Auden, “We are here on Earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I don’t know.”

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