When you come to the Media Center to check out a book or do homework during Study Hall, you will notice that Ms. Kali Spoelstra has renewed her membership at LRHS from English teacher to Media Specialist.

After the retirement of Media Specialist Ms. Linda Owens, Ms. Spoelstra stepped into her new role and transformed the literary haven into a place where students can get a good book recommendation and pick up a new hobby along the way.

“Ms. Spoelstra has completely transformed the Lakeland Media Center into the vibrant heart of our school,” Supervisor Ms. Jamie Cawley said. “[The Media Center] is a welcoming, creative, and intellectually engaging hub for students and staff alike. Now, students are building circuit boards, folding origami, designing collaborative mosaics, and exploring their curiosities through hands-on, inquiry-based learning experiences.”

Prior to this school year, Ms. Spoelstra was an English teacher for nine years, as well as advisor of The Lancer Ledger. Ms. Spoelstra chose to take on this new role after keeping in touch with a former colleague from a school in Hawthorne and seeing the possibilities of a degree in media literacy. She began a master’s program at William Paterson University in the fall of 2023 and took one class every seven weeks all throughout the year.

“I’ve stayed in touch with [my former colleague] and have seen firsthand how much a library media specialist can do in the role,” Ms. Spoelstra said. “With my love of reading, literature, and research, it seemed like a perfect fit for me.”

Ms. Spoelstra has many new responsibilities as Media Specialist. She seeks to “create a welcoming, inclusive environment that celebrates reading and learning” and wants to create “engaging displays and programming that connect reading with real-world themes, like running our makerspace and different competitions/programs.”

According to Supervisor Ms. Dianna Angelli, “Ms. Spoelstra is doing an amazing job connecting with the students and creating a space for them to not only find books they would enjoy reading, but also creating areas for them to explore maker space projects.”

In addition to these innovative plans for the students, the new media specialist also helps students to “locate, evaluate, and use reliable sources by collaborating with teachers to design lessons and projects that integrate research and media skills.” Ms. Spoelstra is also available to help students with research, essay formatting, and citations- both in-text and works cited lists.

The enthusiastic Media Specialist has many plans for the school year. In the month of October, Ms. Spoelstra created a display of popular fall reading selections, novels for Hispanic heritage month, and an assortment of the top banned books for the annual “Banned Books Week”. There is also a contest for the best two-sentence horror story where students and staff can cast their votes before a winner is announced at the end of the week. According to Ms. Spoelstra, every month, there will be themed events and activities depending on the season, celebrations, awareness months, and school calendar.

According to Ms. Cawley, “Ms. Spoelstra has not only redefined what a media center can be—she’s redefined what it means to be a true educational professional: innovative, caring, and wholeheartedly committed to creating a school environment where everyone can thrive.”