Thank you and goodbye from Miss Y

Just as our Year 6 students leave St Martin’s at the end of each year so they can continue to learn and grow, it’s time for me to leave so I too can continue to learn and grow as a teacher librarian with new experiences and challenges…

I was lucky to join the wonderful St Martin’s community in 2000 as a Year 3 teacher. In 2002 when Mrs Smith retired from the library, I was excited to return to being a teacher librarian again. Little did I know of the adventures ahead, including packing and moving our library twice, operating the library in the GECCO for two years, celebrating the official opening of our brand new library and only six weeks later part of the ceiling collapsed during the Christmas Day storm in 2011 and flooded the library.  One of my favourite memories happened not long after we moved into our new LRC when we had a visit from a kangaroo on Top Yard. Life is never dull when you work in a school library!

The students at St Martin’s are my ‘School Family’ and it has been a privilege and a joy to be a small part of your reading and learning journeys over the past 15 years. In that time we have shared hundreds of books; welcomed authors; held Book Fairs; celebrated Book Week; gathered for Story Nights; participated in the Premiers’ Reading Challenge; read for the Yeo-low Medal; had fun doing Creative Library Challenges; begun our mornings with BRB @ the LRC; enjoyed Lunchtime Library activities; tweeted with authors on Twitter, learned how to to use Infiniti, search with Google, evaluate websites, avoid plagiarism and keep safe online; and we have connected globally via our LRC Blog where we have collected lots of wonderful library memories since I began blogging in 2009…

Book Week

Lots of our Book Week celebrations over the years have been captured here. In 2015 every student contributed a light bulb to our Book Week  display and we celebrated Stories Light Up Our World @ St Martin’s with our first Story Night (a dream I had for a long time). In 2016 we saw lots of fabulous Australian book characters in our Book Week parade for Australia; Story Country. This year we celebrated Book Week 2017 with our Escape to Everywhere Story Night and 400 parents and students enjoyed stories read by our wonderful teachers on a wintery Melbourne night.

Author Visits

Some of the authors we have been lucky to enjoy visits from over the years include Socceroos’ goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and Neil Montagnana-Wallace , Jacqueline Harvey visited us on her very first book tour for her Alice-Miranda series. Our whole school had one of the best days ever ‘Kicking Goals for Readers’ with Felice Arena, Adrian Beck and Michael Wagner One of our Year 3 classes enjoyed a Google Hangout with Tania Ingram who lives in South Australia.  Kathryn Apel visited from Queensland and inspired us to flex our poetry and creativity muscles to paint pictures with words while Anna Walker shared her delightful collage and water colour illustrations with the Junior classes.

Some students have also been inspired to go along to meet their favourite authors including Jeff Kinney, Michael Wagner, Jackie French, Andy Griffiths, Judith Rossell and Sally Rippin.

The Premiers’ Reading Challenge and the Yeo-low Medal

Our school has been participating in the PRC since 2011 and it has been wonderful to see students challenge themselves to read more and to read a wide range of books each year. Some students have eagerly participated in the PRC each year and all are acknowledged for their fabulous reading effort. Yes, you can win medals and trophies for reading!

We have our author friend, Adrian Beck to thank for our our very own Yeo-low Medal reading challenge that combines our love of AFL football and reading and I’m honoured that it is named after me! Students complete a reading Scavenger Hunt (usually based on the Book Week theme) to have the opportunity to win either an AFL Indigenous football or the coveted Yeo-low Medal for Best and Fairest Reader. We have enjoyed celebrating three Yeo-low Medal Award ceremonies in  2015, 2016 and 2017

Reading Fun

Over the years we have had lots of fun reading and being creative in different ways, including counting our school Reading Minutes for a week, creating levels for a 38-storey Treehouse, making funny faces for  ‘When the Wind Changed’, raising money for books to send to Bangladesh with Monster bookmarks and Hugless Douglas hugs,  wearing PJs on Champions Read and DEAR day, making a huge 124 flavour ice-cream, posing for our Shelfies @ St Martin’s Challenge, enjoying #Reading IsFun with Pig the Pug, showing our Library Love @ SMOT, trying Blind Dates with Books, unleashing creativity with a Bookmark Bonanza, enjoying Year 4 Sleepover stories in the LRC, travelling with Pig the Pug on holiday with Miss Y, sharing Pig the Pug with Mrs Hembree’s library in Seattle, meeting Andy and Terry at the studios at Kids’ WB, making a life-size book cover  with Adrian Beck, having fun painting dinosaurs with chocolate icing tweeting with Felice Arena as we read his books and many other every day happenings in our LRC that have been captured on our LRC Snapshots page. You can enjoy taking a ‘trip down Memory Lane’ looking through the 167 blog posts on our LRC Blog any time…

Thank you for 15 wonderful years in our library and for all the times you have made my heart sing. I have loved being your teacher librarian at St Martin’s where our library is the heart of our school and where I know a piece of my heart will always remain…

My hope is that each one of you will continue to READ, to be curious and creative and to be the best person you can be.

‘I wish you more stories than stars’ (Amy Krouse Rosenthal)

Happy reading!

Miss Y  x

#ReadingIsFun

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36 thoughts on “Thank you and goodbye from Miss Y

  1. “Leaving a piece of your heart behind” is a sign of a passionate person. Your impact is obvious from so many wonderful stories. How lucky you are to have this amazing collection right here. Well done and I look forward to following you as you are move off to your next adventure!

  2. Thank you, Celia

    I am so glad I have our LRC Blog to remind me of all the wonderful times we have shared in our library over the past 15 years.

    Miss Y 🙂

  3. You are an amazing Teacher Librarian Miss Y and your influence and example is wide spread across Australia and the world! St Martin’s has been a VERY lucky school to have you for the past 15 years and you will be missed. You are such a humble person and deserve many accolades. I know the school will celebrate your time and I wish you every joy in the years ahead as you find another challenge that I know you will immerse your heart and soul in order to share the love of literature and learning as you continue to build your amazing network of authors and illustrators.

    You have little feet but huge footprints on the hearts of many.

  4. Thank you so much for your incredibly kind words, Mrs B!

    I have been very lucky as a Teacher Librarian to do something I love and that I am passionate about for the past 15 years. I am going to miss our wonderful library and my school family very much.

    Miss Y 🙂

  5. You’ve been an inspiration Kim and will continue to be so in wherever it is you go in life. I wish you only the best. I know your school community are going to miss you very much.

    Jenny.

  6. Sounds like exciting times ahead Miss Y!
    It’s been a joy to follow your blog and see what you’ve been up to over the years. As a fellow TL I know exactly how you feel. 🙂

    Enjoy your new adventure … but I will miss your blog posts.

    Mrs H xoxo

  7. Thank you so much for your kind words, Jenny. You have been my role model for many years!

    I am lucky to have had 15 wonderul years in our library at St Martin’s.

    Kim 😊

  8. It’s lovely to hear from you, Mrs H!

    I am going to miss writing our LRC Blog. It has been a labour of love and I’m thankful that it contains so many of our library memories that we can all visit.

    Miss Y 😊

  9. Thank you for being such an inspirational person to work with. I have learned so much from you over the last 9 years and am constantly in awe of your passion and dedication to our wonderful LRC.

    A new chapter begins but I’ll always cherish the memories you leave behind.

    I wish you all the best.

    Mrs O 🙂

  10. As a school community we are very sad you are leaving us. As students my two have thrived under your guidance, your enthusiasm for your craft knows no bounds. As a parent I only wish my two could’ve had you until they finished but sometimes life takes us in different directions. Good luck and best wishes for the next chapter in your life Kim. Thank you xxx

  11. Thank you Mrs O,

    It has been a delight teaching with you at SMOT. Thank you so much for your support of our library and sharing your passion for books and reading with the students in your classroom over the years. Thank you too for being one of our readers and sharing the joy of reading at our Story Nights.

    I will also have many memories of our library that I will cherish.

    Happy reading when your ‘new addition’ when they arrive very soon!

    Miss Y 🙂

  12. Dear Miss Y,

    You have literally ‘lived in’ our LRC at SMOT with early mornings and late afternoons. You have kept our LRC alive!!! We will miss all the inspiring events and activities that you organised for us. Long live reading!!!!

    Kind regards,
    Mrs Van.

  13. Thank you so much, Sharon.

    There is never an easy time to leave and so much of my heart is in our library. I have been incredibly lucky to be the teacher librarian at St Martin’s and to have so much support from our school community. Our library is the heart of our school. You have fostered a love of books and reading with your two beautiful children and it has been a joy to build on this in our library. I know they will be lifelong readers.

    Happy reading!

    Kim 🙂

  14. Thank you, Mrs Van!

    The LRC is definitely my second home!

    Thank you for always supporting our library and sharing a love of reading with your students.

    Happy reading!

    Miss Y 🙂

  15. What a week of mixed emotions for you, Kim! How wonderful you have so many happy memories to reflect on at St Martins, with many of them captured on your blog.

    It was fantastic to get to know you through blogging and you’ve always been a source of advice and support. I know that connection won’t end and I look forward to following your new adventures.

    While you will have many students at St Martins who remember you fondly, there are also many educators and students around the world who will never forget the impact you had on them. How amazing is that?

    Have a very happy last week of school, and a relaxing break before your new adventures begin!

    Kathleen

  16. Thank you Kim!
    For all your hard work, dedication and showing our kids many many new adventures, you have definitely inspired them to read and learn more.
    YOU are ONE in a MILLION
    We will miss you and are forever grateful to have spent the last six years with you….
    We wish you well and many happy reading days ahead
    Andanar Family

  17. Such a wonderful capture of all you have done for the St Martin’s Community, Kim. (Would make a great resume!)
    You have etched a love of reading into many young hearts and many staff as well.
    Thank you for all you have given. It has been a privilege both working alongside you and learning so much from you.
    The next chapter will be amazing with you touching many more hearts.
    Much love and thanks.
    Marg C xx

  18. Thank you so much, Maridel!

    Thank you for supporting both myself and our library over the past 6 years. A special thank you too for nominating our library as a “Great School Library’.

    Your boys are very lucky to have parents who nurture and guide their love of books and reading and it has been my joy to support you.

    ‘The greatest gift is a passion for reading’.

    Wishing you and your family many happy reading days ahead too…

    Kim 🙂

  19. Thank you so much, Kath!

    A very big week for me who is emotional at the best of times (my students will attest to that!)

    I am so glad that I have continued to blog over the years as our blog is now a repository of so many wonderful memories. Our LRC Blog has helped us make many connections both local and global, including our friend Mrs Hembree in Seattle. It has allowed us to remove our library walls and share with the world!

    I have learnt so much from you via your blogging and Twitter and I’m thrilled you are back in the education realm again. I hope to meet you in person shortly!

    Happy reading with your gorgeous children…

    Kim 🙂

  20. Thank you so much, Marg.

    It is a joy to do your job when it is something you are passionate about!

    Thank you for always being supportive of my teacher librarian role and our library. I will always be grateful for (and in awe of) your brilliant organisational skills when organising the groups for our Story Nights. Thanks to you everything ran smoothly!

    Wishing you many happy reading days in your next chapter…

    Kim 🙂

  21. Wishing you only the very best wishes as you move from St Martin’s Kim. You are well loved and remembered by the boys I have taught post primary. Good luck with the next phase of your life.

    Karen

  22. Thank you, Karen.

    It’s lovely to hear I’m remembered by our ex students. Quite a few have popped back for a visit over the years and they’re so much taller!

    It’s time for me to move on and explore new challenges. I’m going to take a short break and hope to be back doing what I love sooner rather than later.

    Enjoy your well deserved end of year break…

    Kim 🙂

  23. Dear Kim/Miss Yeomans,
    Our family feels blessed to have met you this year. Many thanks for the lasting impression which you have had on Leila. You made books come to life and encouraged her interest in different authors and series.
    Thanks for all you gave to St Martin’s library over the years. Saying farewell tomorrow is going to be tough but we wish you all the happiness in the world. You will be awesome at whatever you put your mind to and your smile, friendly and caring nature will touch all those you meet along the way.
    Belinda and Leila xo

  24. So many great memories and achievements Kim. I can’t even imagine what an exciting yet emotional time this must be for you.

    Your help with the St Roch’s library continues to be enjoyed and appreciated and our new teacher librarian is taking it from strength to strength.

    I know a couple of Colleen’s who would be so proud of you and excited for this next part of your journey. Congratulations on what you have achieved and thank you for inspiring me.
    Take care and come visit soon.
    Richard

  25. Thank you so much Belinda and Leila,

    It has been an absolute delight to teach Leila in the library this year. I wish I could bottle her enthusiasm and I’m honoured that I could be a small part of her reading journey this year. Thank you for your support of myself and our library this year.

    I’m sure our paths will continue to cross and I look forward to hearing what Leila has been up to!

    Kim 🙂

  26. Thank you so much for your kind words, Richard.

    I’m honoured to have played a small part in helping to give your library at St Roch’s a new lease of life. I’m also thrilled you kept your promise and now have a teacher librarian who is weaving her magic in your library. I will definitely come back for a visit!

    Whatever I do will involve children and books because “The greatest gift is a passion for reading’

    Kim 🙂

  27. Good luck Kim with whatever the next chapter holds for you. My girls have absolutely loved having you as their teacher librarian and have been so blessed to learn so much about books from you. You really have left a wonderful legacy behind and SMOT is all the richer for it. Bianca and Claudia will miss you. Merry Christmas 🎄

  28. I remember your kangaroo in the top yard! And the flooding…

    Visiting St Martins in May – and most especially spending extended time with you – was a highlight of 2017 for me. Your preparation in advance of my visit was exceptional, and the follow-up poetry (and construction creativity!) was a delight to see. Your care of me during my time – precious.

    You have been a treasure in your school, and I know you will be greatly missed! Wishing you wonderful adventures as you write the next chapters in your story. I’m sure there will be heaps of photos and clever captions. 🙂

    Thinking of you. xx

  29. Thank you so much, Tania.

    It has been a privilege and a joy to teach Bianca and Claudia! I have been so lucky to be the teacher librarian at St Martin’s and I hope that our library will continue to be a place where our students enjoy coming to read and learn and it is the heart of our school. Have a wonderful Christmas with your family.

    Happy reading!

    Kim 🙂

  30. Thank you so much, Kat.

    With the QLD-like storms with hail and heavy rain here tonight I hope there hasn’t been any flooding in our library!

    Your visit to our school was one of our library highlights this year! I know your poetry has inspired many of our students to be creative and play with words.

    Thank you for your kind words and wishes, Kat.

    Kim 🙂

  31. If anyone doubts the impact a vibrant school library makes on children’s hearts and minds, then this post would certainly enlighten them! All the very best, Kim, for new adventures ahead. 👏

  32. Thank you for your kind words, Susan!

    We have had lots of fun reading, learning and being creative in our library over the past 15 years. At our school ‘The LRC is the place to be’.

    Kim 🙂

  33. Kim you have been a fabulous colleague and contributor to our marvellous profession. Your students coming to OLMC knew what to expect and how to use their school library.
    I remember the flood and how delighted that we could help with some new books to replace your losses.
    I have loved reading the comments from your students and colleagues. You have had a huge impact on St.Martin’s.

  34. Thank you, Michael.

    We were so touched by the number of libraries like yours that donated books when we had the flood in our library. It was so heartwarming!

    Thank you for leaving us a comment.

    Kim 🙂

  35. Thank you Miss Y for teaching us. We couldn’t have asked for a better librarian! Thank you for making the library the best place to be! We will see you down the street! Have a great Christmas!
    From Hannah, Michael and Abbey

  36. Thank you Hannah, Michael and Abbey,

    I have been SO lucky to teach all of you in our library over the years and be a part of your reading journeys at SMOT. I hope that books will continue to be an important part of your lives.

    Happy Christmas and have a fabulous 2018.

    Happy reading!

    Miss Y 😊 📚

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