Lynn Clements

When I first came to Westtown School in second grade I wasn't sure I would like it. A few of my questions involved the library. "Was the teacher nice?" "Was it big enough?" "Would I find books that I liked?" My questions were answered right away when I walked into the library. It wasn't the biggest library, but once I met T. Lynn I knew it would be okay. T. Lynn welcomed us. She read us book after book, each a little better than before. One Story week was also a hit. One week every year T. Lynn would choose a picture book and the whole lower school would do activities related to that book. For example, one activity was making our own instruments. We would Skype with the author or illustrator or they would visit Westtown. T. Lynn at checkout time would always walk up to me and say "Melissa, I have a new book for you!" She would check out the book to me and I would start it immediately. I would always find myself reading those books again and again. I started to read even more than before, discovering new genres, authors, and books at every corner. In fifth grade (which is the grade I am in now) one of my friends got a brilliant idea. She had gotten it out of a book T. Lynn had recommended to her, Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. My friend wanted to hide books around the library and make clues so people could find them! My friend told me about it and we ran to T. Lynn. T. Lynn was immediately with us. Every day at quiet time (a quiet free time) we would go down to the library and work on our plan. Finally, we finished. T. Lynn gave up her class time for a game two fifth graders did! I was ecstatic. The class loved it and wanted to do more, so once a week we would do Book Scavenger. (We have library class two times a week.) As a result, my class got to have fun and learn more about where books are in the library! Another activity we did to help us learn about the library was we played Kahoot. Kahoot is a game where you answer questions and get points. It is a super fun way to help us learn. My class always cheers when we do Kahoot. Recently we had an author visit: Matthew Swanson, who wrote The Real McCoys. T. Lynn did a very caring and smart thing. She had us write down questions for him. She did that so 1. We wouldn't forget our question 2. So if we wanted to ask a question and we didn't know what to ask we could look at it and 3. So we could ask good questions! T. Lynn has always been an OUTSTANDING teacher, librarian, and friend. Sometimes after I have read an especially good book I would email her! She would always reply right away. She has encouraged me to be a stronger and better reader. She is a life changing person!

Melissa Freeman