Technology Program Administrator Report

New Hampstead High School

Prepared by Salem Teske

FRIT 7739
New Hampstead High School
Technology Center Program Evaluation

Executive Summary
The New Hampstead High School media center functions as the technology center for the school.
The media center serves 1,180 students in grades 9th through 12th, 112 staff members, and 10
dual enrolled professors. Data collected through observations, interviews, and a review of
resources revealed that the media center is deserving of being deemed Good Standing by the
Advance Ed SACS Accreditation. The New Hampstead High School media center is the hub of the
school and is always bustling with activity from open to close. There are always students and
teachers in the media center for classes, trainings, and personal use. The media center has
numerous items of technology that students and teachers have access to. The mission statement
and goals are clearly reflected in the daily operations of the media center. The library media
technology specialist, the library media support specialist, and the media center peer facilitators
work together to carry out the center’s activities with success. Through strong collaboration and
relationships, the media center is able to effectively support student and teacher’s needs.
Improvements can be made by increasing the number of student users for personal use by
creating a more welcoming and user friendly environment. Overall, the New Hampstead High
School media center is a model media center program for the 21st century.

Organizational Chart

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Methods
A variety of methods were used to collect information about the New Hampstead High School
media center. Interviews were conducted with the library media technology specialist, library media
support specialist, the peer facilitators from 4th block, and 2 teachers. (Appendix A) The interviews
were conducted in person and through email using a set list of questions. Numerous observations
and participation in daily tasks were conducted. Numerous resources were shared and reviewed in
person and through email as well. (Appendix B).

Center Context and Goals

New Hampstead High School was built in 2012. Mrs. Shearer has been the library media
technology specialist since the opening of the school. The school received all new equipment upon
opening. The setup of the media center has evolved each year to meet the needs of the center’s
stakeholders. The number of student workstations has increased over time to effectively serve the
number of students. The book collection is in compliance due to all new materials, which does not
require much weeding. According to Advance Ed SACS Accreditation, the media center is in Good
Standing.

Mission Statement
“Committed to a Culture of High Expectations!”
Creating an environment that produces information literate life-long learners who evaluate the
reliability and validity of multiple resources to effectively produce and communicate their own
knowledge and understanding.

Goals
The goals have been determined based on the individual library media technology specialist’s
needs for their library and stakeholders
 As library media technology specialist, include promotion of Live Oak public library
through presentations to teachers, Open House, media center displays like RB Digital
Magazines, etc. This will ensure all high school students have a library card before they
graduate due to not having access to public school libraries after they graduate.
 As library media technology specialist, continue to have a key role as school
communicator through daily announcements, website updates, Safari Montage,
promoting upcoming activities, Bright Arrow call outs, emails, and the marquee signs.
 As library media technology specialist, create and participate in more staff planning and
meetings to share upcoming district initiatives. Technology Tuesday staff trainings and
student lessons will provide more information to staff and students.

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Stakeholders
The stakeholders include 1,180 students, 112 staff members, 4 administrators, 4 guidance
counselors, 29 business partners, volunteers. New Hampstead has a partnership with Point
University and Savannah Tech University which includes 10 dual enrolled professors.

Personnel
The center personnel consists of the Library Media Technology Specialist, Mrs. Shearer, the
Library Media Support Specialist, Mrs. Brown, and student peer facilitators. The library media
technology specialist is responsible for supporting staff through teacher trainings, providing teacher
technology assistance, and collaborating with teachers on their instructional projects. She supports
students through assisting with student needs and working closely with the media center peer
facilitators to ensure their responsibilities are upheld. She is in charge of troubleshooting any
problems with technology, equipment, or communication throughout the school. She administers
school wide communications through being the webmaster, Operation Beacon volunteer
coordinator, creating the morning broadcast, recording Bright Arrow Call outs, creating the school
slideshow on the district channel, and administering surveys for data collection. She assists as the
site testing coordinator by setting up tests such as GMAS, WIDA, ASVAB, and NAPE and
scheduling benchmark testing labs for staff. She is the activities coordinator of the school and
oversees school wide activities such as school council, PTSA, and Senior class activities. She is
also the school finance coordinator. Mrs. Shearer takes on the administrator role of a library media
technology specialist by working closely with all staff members.

The library media support specialist is responsible for supporting the library media technology
specialists carry out her roles and responsibilities. The library media technology specialist and the
library media support specialist work as a team to carry out the responsibilities of the media center.
She supports the library media technology specialist by assisting with teacher trainings, recording
Bright Arrow Call outs, creating the school slideshow on the district channel, laminating, poster
making, library and resource manager in Destiny, and Senior class activities. She also supports
students through assisting with student needs and working closely with the media center peer
facilitators to carry out their responsibilities.

The media center peer facilitators are responsible for carrying out the day to day responsibilities of
the media center. They also are in charge of designing the yearbook Their responsibilities include
all duties that assist patrons in the daily use of the media center, communication, peer mediation,
special media productions, and projects that assist with whole group instruction. The media
procedures include monitoring students entering the media center (sign in station and verifying
passes or ID’s), confirming book check in and shelving materials, checking book shelves for
accuracy, assisting with processing books for circulation, making ID badges for new students and
replacement ID's for others, making copies for teachers and school wide events, laminating and
creating special poster requests for teachers and events, assisting with test readiness, submitting
help requests for damaged laptops, answering phones and assisting with answering questions
from the caller, assisting with keeping the media center environment clean, assisting teachers
upon request for special projects to include videotaping, assisting with organizing and distributing
circulation notices at mid-marking and report card times. Individual tasks include assisting with
locating materials for students on the shelves by call number, printing jobs for students that are

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saved in the Student Share Drive or on a Flash drive, providing media center orientation for new
students, giving school tours to students when counselors calls for peer facilitators, providing peer
mediation when counselors call for peer facilitators, helping with some "technology" related
questions on personal devices as well as access to student access. After training, school-wide
activities include assisting with conducting orientation to all students for the media center, assisting
with implementing lessons such as Destiny, research skills, student access, Google Drive, and
school-wide surveys, and assisting with organizing events that are scheduled for the school
(creating posters, scheduling of classes, ushering, decorations, etc. for Black History, blood drive,
prom fashion show, etc.). After training, communication responsibilities include updating the
Marquee Sign, "Saturday Call Out" using Bright Arrow, posting announcements and calendar
events on the website, as well as deleting outdated information, creating and updating video
furnace (the rotating scroll in lobby/cafeteria television monitors), assisting with morning and
afternoon announcements, and assisting with distributing printed information to the school. The
media center is extremely "student-centered and student-operated". The peer facilitators are a key
factor in planning and organizing school wide activities.

The media center also employs 2 regular parent volunteers. One volunteer works directly with the
library media technology specialist daily while the other volunteer works directly with the library
media support specialist about three times a week. The volunteers complete a variety of tasks set
by the library media technology specialist and library media support specialist, which is mostly
clerical work.

There is a library advisory media committee with 11 members, including students, parents, and
department representatives. The purpose of the library advisory media committee is to discuss and
decide on media center matters such as the needs of the school, gaging customer satisfaction with
the media program, developing a strategic plan to meet the stakeholder’s needs, collecting
relevant data that impacts student achievement, how to spend budget funds, integrating strategies
to promote collaboration, and advocacy for school library media programs. The committee selects
resources based on running reports, surveys from teachers, and every day experiences with
teachers and faculty.

Center Activities
The NHHS Media Center has a variety of activities.

1.Lessons are taught to the students in the media center to support instruction. The media
specialist collaborates with teachers to schedule classes during the first two weeks of each
semester for Media Center Orientation. During this time, policies, procedures and emergency drills
for the media center are explained, along with the tour of the facilities. Additional lessons are
taught including navigating students through the district website to access their Student Google
Drive, Student Microsoft Office 360, Student Power School, Destiny, Destiny Collection and the
media center website for citing sources. Collaboration with other lessons are conducted throughout
the year with individual New Hampstead High School Teachers and Dual Enrolled Professors that
conduct classes in school facilities.

2. Promotion to encourage all students to obtain a free Live Oak Pine library card continues all
year long. The goal is to ensure that all students and staff have free educational resources to

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include free tutorial, access to educational databases and materials not purchased by the school,,
online programs to support resume building, test preparations, language skills, etc.

3. Reading activities include Phoenix Literary Allegiance Club that meets on Tuesdays and
Thursdays during Instructional Focus and Wednesday afternoons. Members read and discuss the
20 chapter books voted by teenagers, listed as the Georgia Peach Book Awards. Members
compete at the district level against other high schools in January.

4. School information and upcoming events and activities are broadcast daily from the media
center to all stakeholders. Communication of such activities are printed for display, posted on the
website, called out to all parents and students, updated on the marquee sign and created for
school news. Activities are constructed in the media center broadcast room. Media Staff organize,
implement and "clean up" school wide events such as testing, homecoming, blood drives, food
drives, school spirit weeks, etc. Activities that help promote school culture, spirit, and student
achievement.

5. Technology Tuesday Staff Development Training's are scheduled in the media center. Library
media technology specialist collaborates with administrators to plan activities to include book and
video resources available through Discovery Education, Safari, Destiny Collection, Live Oak Public
Library, etc. Training are facilitated by media staff, assigned staff, presenters from the district and
organizations that provide resources to the district.

6.Emergency Response Team monthly meetings are scheduled to discuss student safety and
security, along with emergency drills such as fire drills, tornado drills, active shooter drills, bomb
and gas leak drills, etc. Media Staff take the minutes, update the fan out, staff photo directory, and
drill plans to share with the staff.

7.Volunteers report to the media center to assist with daily activities or special projects. Invitations
for volunteer opportunities are promoted through Operation Beacon, the website and Bright Arrow
call outs. Documentation of the hours and type of services are provided to the district via the media
staff at New Hampstead High School.

8.Faculty meetings, department meetings, district meetings and community meetings are
scheduled and held in the media center to discuss school matters.

9. Parent engagement activities are scheduled throughout the year to include Follow the Bell
Schedule and Open House, fine arts performances, informational meetings to prepare for
graduation to include Financial Aid Night, Post-Secondary Options, etc. Media Staff assists with
organizing and facilitating as needed for these events.

10. Media Staff organizes student account information to include ID cards, active directory, student
access and locker information to keep a standardized process year after year. Additionally Media
Staff assist parents with their account information to access their child's grades, provide Senior
information pertinent to senior year activities and graduation ceremony.

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Evaluation
The New Hampstead High School media center is the hub of the school and is always bustling with
activity from open to close. Mrs. Shearer has been a constant for the school in the midst of
administrator and teacher turn over since 2012. Due to her knowledge and relationships with
administration, staff, and students, she has taken on an administrative role within the school. The
library media support specialist and the peer facilitators assist with the daily operations of the
media center, which enables Mrs. Shearer to take on these extra roles on top of her library media
technology specialist responsibilities. Mrs. Shearer and Mrs. Brown were very thorough in their
interview responses and reinforced that the team effort between themselves and the peer
facilitators keeps the day running smoothly and ensures the media center is operating
successfully. They both agreed that the media center could improve by the addition of updated
programs to use with the existing technology. This would provide more opportunities for trainings
on Technology Tuesdays. This improvement would also allow the media center to continue as a
21st century media center.

The peer facilitators were able to answer all of the interview questions with assistance from their
Media Center Peer Facilitator Evaluation Rubric. Mrs. Shearer provided more insight to their
expectations and day-to-day responsibilities. The peer facilitators stated they would improve their
responsibilities by allowing more time to complete their tasks or require less tasks to be completed,
not complete the Peer Facilitator Self Evaluation Rubric, participate in “school events”, and answer
the phones and try to solve the issues for the caller. Through my observations, I have noticed that
the peer facilitators are a key component to the success of the media center. The professionalism
and work ethic of the peer facilitators enables Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Shearer to complete their many
additional roles and responsibilities for the school. Mrs. Shearer stated that the peer facilitation
program is like a work based learning program that is held on campus. She requires students to
submit an application with recommendations from a teacher and is very selective as to who will
work in the media center (3 to 4 students max per period block). The peer facilitators also shared
that the media center could improve by the addition of updated programs to use with the existing
technology. This would allow students to keep up with the constant changes of technology and be
able to use the school computers with all programs and not have to additionally use their personal
computers.

Through the teacher interviews, teachers stated that they predominately use the media center for
their Instructional Focus blocks and for classes with students in the various lab locations within the
media center and the school. The teachers stated they collaborate with the library media
technology specialist when signing up for labs, creating projects for students that require
technology, and using technology for their instruction. Students use the media center and its
resources when completing assignments. Mrs. Shearer and Mrs. Brown approve all print jobs for
students. Despite the constant teacher and student usage of the media center, the teachers stated
they would improve the media center by increasing the amounts of technology available. Teachers
would like their own COWS (Computers on Wheels) in their classrooms for students to complete
assignments. The addition of more technology could improve the media center and continue its
status as a 21st century media center, however this may decrease the amount of teacher and
media specialist collaboration.

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The library advisory media committee schedules one meeting at the beginning of each semester to
focus on improving the service and program of the media center as well as the technology and
resources available. The agenda includes the minutes of the past 2 previous years to guide ideas
and suggestions to target the 11 assigned tasks of the committee. The first meeting for this school
year was held on Monday, August 19th. The second meeting will be held in January 2020. During
the meeting for Fall 2019, the committee discussed active slates, calculators, and an update on the
COWS district staggered replacement (2 of them are now Chrome Carts instead of Lenova
Workstations). Due to reorganization of the Professional Learning Department and no Instructional
Support Tech provided to schools, the committee discussed that teachers will have to rely heavily
on HelpDesk and the Technology Catalog for assistance. Surveys will be scheduled to find “NHHS”
experts in different software applications to provide in house training on Technology Tuesday in
the media center. The surveys scheduled will also plan upcoming trainings based on needs and
interests of the staff. The Instructional Focus block will be utilized to provide Digital Citizenship;
Cyber Security and safety lessons to students and staff.

Through my observations, interviews, and review of resources, I believe the New Hampstead High
School media center is a model media center program for the 21st century. There are always
students and teachers in the media center for classes, trainings, and personal use. The media
center has numerous items of technology that students and teachers have access to.
Recommendations I would make to the media center would be for students to have access to
printing during scheduled class times. The restrictions of printing access could be deterring
students from using the media center due to the strict procedures. From a teacher standpoint, the
strict structure and organization that goes into the media center being used for a variety of classes,
teacher and staff trainings, and personal use is very beneficial. However, I can see how this could
be very overwhelming for students and not very user-friendly. By the peer facilitators creating a
more welcoming and inclusive environment in the media center for all patrons, the number of
student users could increase.

Appendix A

Interview Questions
Media Specialist

1. What are your responsibilities?

2. What are your goals for the center?
3. What types of activities are established in your center?
4. Do you have a budget that you control?
5. How do you make decisions when selecting resources for your center?

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 6. Does your center have a media committee? Who is a part of your media
committee and how often do you meet?
7. What improvements would you like to make to the media center?

Library Media Support Specialist

1. What are your responsibilities?
2. What areas in the media center do you have control over?
3. How involved are you in the media specialist’s responsibilities?
4. Are there any improvements you would make to the media center?

Peer Facilitator

1. What are your responsibilities in the media center?

2. What areas in the media center do you have control over?
3. Are there any improvements you would make to your responsibilities?
4. Are there any improvements you would make to the media center?

Teacher

1. How do you predominately use the media center?

2. How often do you collaborate with the media specialist to support your
instruction?
3. How often do your students use the media center and its resources?
4. Are there any improvements you would make to the media center?

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Appendix B

Media Center Peer Facilitator Evaluation

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New Hampstead High School Media Technology
Advisory Committee Meeting 8/19/19

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Technology survey from task 7

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