M. Linsey Kitchens has the fortune of being both librarian and English teacher at Sedro-Woolley High School. Linsey has taught AP to credit retrieval courses, co-created the Instructional Leadership Team, piloted a secondary standards-based-gradebook, curated media literacy professional development, and grown a school-wide independent reading program. Linsey's passion lies in reinvigorating readers, especially reluctant ones. Upon becoming the high school librarian, her teaching practices were reviewed, re-calibrated, and reinvented. For too long, she noted, her teaching consistently churned out non-readers, void of passion and pleasure for reading. She dared test: What if students select their own reading material? The results of ditching the canon shocked her: students would read. Voraciously. She knew she could not keep the revelation to herself, and vowed to change the school's English curriculum. Referred to by students as a "used-car salesperson for books," Linsey hunts for texts that will speak to each student, while simultaneously teaching non-readers what "right-fit" books feel like. Under her watch, school-wide independent reading has transformed school culture. Reading has skyrocketed: 70% of students report reading two or more books last semester. Other metrics, such as the English pass rate for students receiving special education services, indicate that Linsey's passion for getting books in hands is seeping into academics. Linsey is also a champion for media literacy. She created a professional development breakout activity training teachers as digital citizens and continues to develop and pilot new media literacy curriculum. Additionally, Linsey believes academic writing should be accessible and frequent. Currently, Linsey is crafting a new writing curriculum to pass the power of the pen from teacher to student. Linsey believes that if we can give students the time, space, and professional support, they will fall in love again with reading and writing, affording them a rich education, adulthood, and citizenship.
