State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice Visits TSD

State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice Visits TSD, Presents Troy High’s Media Center and Librarian with Model School Library for 2022/2023 Award

Today the Troy School District welcomed State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice, who presented Troy High’s Media Center and School Librarian Toni Isaac with the Model School Library Award for 2022/23. The Model School Library program at the Library of Michigan (LM) provides examples and mentors for K-12 school libraries throughout the state as well as highlights great school librarians. Each year, a school library program is selected and highlighted as the Model SL 21 School Library Program of the Year.

The Troy High School Media Center is a place where the partnership with the public library has expanded opportunities and resources for students and teachers. “Library of Michigan selected Troy High’s library and Librarian for the Model SL 21 honor for her focus on connecting the school community with community resources such as the public library as well as outstanding information literacy support across the curriculum,” said Karren Reish, Michigan Library Grants Coordinator.

“We are so fortunate to have an amazing partnership with Troy Public Library staff,” said Isaac. “They are always responsive to our ideas and suggestions for expanding student access to their resources.” Because of the student THS/TPL eCard initiative students have access to databases that would otherwise be too expensive for (TSD) to provide. The databases support student interests and research all the way from Pre-K to the most advanced AP classes. TPL also supports classroom teachers by being willing to provide bags of books on specific topics for use in the classroom.

The newly renovated Troy High Media Center is also front and center, an example of how building space can enhance and encourage learning. “The space is so much more inviting now,” said Isaac, “It’s easy to reconfigure the space to fit the needs of the students that come to the media center…it has always been a busy space but now it feels like there is room for more students to come in and feel welcome and comfortable exploring our many resources and materials.” Dr. Rice praised the district and Troy High for leadership: “Strong libraries help drive high literacy rates, and Troy’s library is a leader,” said Dr. Rice. “We must continue to actively engage our children in literacy, and especially diverse literature. It is critical that we share diverse books and authors with our students—so that they can see themselves and others in their literature.”

Following the Library presentation, Dr. Rice had lunch with AP Seminar students who use the library for research, then toured Troy High with visits to the Auto and Robotics Lab, Jazz Band, GBBE (Genetics, Biology, Biotechnology & Embryology) Lab, and AP Government. Dr. Rice concluded his trip to Troy with a visit to Hamilton Elementary School, where he was a guest reader for March is Reading Month, sharing the book Caldecott award-winner Mel Fell by Corey Tabor with Hamilton 2nd graders.

For more information on the 21st Century School Libraries benchmark program and the Model School Libraries, you can go to https://www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan/libraries/schoolllib/sl21.

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Photos courtesy of TSD Creative Content Producer Thomas Butcher and the TSD Creative Guild.

490 – TSD Superintendent Dr. Rich Machesky

499 – Troy High Principal Remo Roncone

517 – State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice

526 – Troy High Media Center

533 – L to R: Troy High Asst. Principal Dan House, Troy School Board Trustee Gary Hauff, TSD Superintendent Dr. Rich Machesky, Troy School Board President Karl Schmidt, Troy High Librarian Toni Isaac, Michigan Library Grants Coordinator Karren Reish, Michigan Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice, Troy High Principal Remo Roncone, Troy High Assistant Principal Brian Zawislak, TSD Asst. Superintendent Secondary Instruction Christine DiPilato

543 – L to R: Michigan Library Grants Coordinator Karren Reish, Troy High Librarian Toni Isaac, Michigan Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice

546: L to R: Troy High Assistant Principal Dan House, Michigan Library Grants Coordinator Karren Reish, Troy High Librarian Toni Isaac, Michigan Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice, Troy High Principal Remo Roncone, Troy High Asst. Princip Brian Zawislak

559: Troy High Asst. Principal Brian Zawislak and Karen Reish

583: Troy High Science teacher, Jeff Forshey, teaching GBBE class (Genetics, Bacteriology, Biotechnology & Embryology)

584 & 585: Jeff Forshey & Dr. Rice

586: GBBE students with Asst. Principal Brian Zawislak

588: GBBE students with Troy School Board President Karl Schmidt

601: Troy Principal Remo Roncone tours Troy High halls with Dr. Rice

637: Troy High Auto Lab

641: Dr. Rice with THS Auto Lab teacher Dustin Warner

645: L to R in Troy High Auto Lab: Remo Roncone, Dr. Rice, Karen Reish, Dustin Warner

676: THS AP Seminar Students having lunch with Dr. Rice in media center

698: Dr. Rice having lunch with Seminar Students

708: Dr. Rice with Dr. David Recker (Hamilton Principal) reviewing book Caldecott award winner Mel Fell by Corey Tabor with Hamilton 2nd graders.

740, 50, 61: Dr. Rice Reading

765: Dr. Rice speaking with 2nd grade teacher at Hamilton, Whitney Swichtenberg

769 & 76: Dr. Rice with 2nd graders