Hoover Librarian And Teacher Honored For Social Justice Efforts

HOOVER, AL — Two educators at Gwin Elementary School in Hoover were recently honored for their work in promoting social justice. Library Media Specialist Jennifer Northrup and third-grade teacher Hali House won the Roald Dahl Miss Honey Social Justice Award for a joint project this school year.

The award recognizes and encourages collaboration and partnerships between school librarians and teachers in teaching social justice through joint planning of a program, unit or event to support social justice using library resources.

A few months ago, the two set out on a collaborative effort to impact their students' lives. They knew they wanted to do something that focused on the school and district’s goal of providing a cultural experience and activities that include all student backgrounds.

Their idea was to address social justice issues by celebrating diversity and exploring identity and empathy. They decided to carry this out by celebrating influential Black Americans in a biography project. This project allowed them to bridge ideas on social justice and Black Americans by using the biographies to expand a student’s thoughts and connection with real-world struggles.

The project got underway in February during Black History Month. Northrup and House co-taught lessons on note-taking, research and other topics for the project, with the students eventually making their way into the writing phase.

“With this set of students, we found a common time we had, and we worked on it every day for about two months,” Northrup said. “The students were so engaged, and they were so sad when they did not get to come to the library every day.”

The project's culmination came as students made presentations on the person they chose. Northrup and House say this project helped students learn that everyone may have struggles or obstacles they need to overcome in life.

“Students were able to do things on their own and shine,” House said. “Sometimes, when you struggle with things, you get somewhat discouraged occasionally, and I think this allowed them to shine and be the person that they are.”

Northrup and House will be honored at the American Association of School Libraries in October, but the school will also receive a $5,000 book donation for the library. They said they hope to expand this project to the entire third grade and find ways to incorporate it throughout the year.

“Gwin has a reputation of having a diverse population of students, and I always say that the teachers in our school embrace that about our school community,” Gwin Elementary Principal Dr. Kimberly White said. “This is just an example of how our teachers have tried to incorporate many important skills, lessons that are part of what we teach in third grade, and some powerful social perspectives for students. The things they have taught these students about empathy and social justice are things I hope they teach other students, and these students will continue to learn about themselves and be good examples in our school and community for years to come.”