QUITMAN — Shelby Tedford’s love for reading was nurtured when she was a child during long weekend drives between her home in Oklahoma and her grandmother’s home in Y City, Arkansas.
As the new Quitman Elementary School media specialist, Tedford wants every child to share her love for reading.
“Some of our kiddos don’t get exposed to a wide range of literature,” Tedford said. “If they don’t like to read, ‘OK, maybe we can find you something. It doesn’t have to be fiction.’”
Her theme for this school year is travel.
“Reading was able to take me to a different place, a different world — just an escape and to learn something new, usually,” Tedford said. “So, I pulled out several books on different countries. I know we’re a little town, but we can go so many places around the world just through our reading.”
For example, she wants to introduce students to the Magic
Tree House series, which “I have always loved,” she said. Tedford said that in the series, a sibling pair find a magic treehouse. “It will take them back in time or different places; they go to ancient China and the Old West,” she said.
Tedford said it’s hard to pick a favorite book, but she always goes back to the Harry Potter series, which she called “epic.”
“I reread them several times. Just being able to get so involved in another world is so great.”
The 26-year-old, who lives in Ward with her husband, Nicholas, said she moved around a lot when she was growing up. She and her mother lived in Stillwater, Oklahoma, then moved to Jacksonville when Tedford was in the 10th grade. She graduated from North Pulaski High School.
“Moving around so often, I got to see a lot of different teachers, a lot of great teachers. My third-grade teacher was the best, and that’s what I’d always wanted to teach.
Tedford recalled that she’d got discarded textbooks when she was in an after-school day care in third grade and pretended to be a teacher.
“I remember vividly they were throwing away a set, … and it was so fun to go through those teacher editions with all the answers,” she said. “I just wanted to emulate a good teacher, especially that one in third grade, Mrs. Clements, at Will Rogers Elementary School in Stillwater.
“We had a huge unit on Native Americans. We went on a nature walk at one of the lakes and got to pick up different nature items, and we made a shield; we did sand painting. She had a weaving loom set up in the classroom. If we were done early, we could weave a little bit.”
Tedford started her postsecondary education at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.
“I started my degree program as a general-education teacher after thinking I wanted to do some science and be a genetic counselor. I kind of realized that’s not where my heart was.”
After her first semester, she moved to Cabot and finished her elementary education degree by taking classes through Arkansas State University-Beebe.
Tedford taught for four years at Lisa Academy North in Sherwood. She was a math and reading interventionist for third through fifth grades. Tedford spent two years as a fifth-grade classroom teacher.
“Last year, I spent the year as reading specialist for kindergarten through fifth grade,” she said.
She can use her experience as an interventionist to help students who are struggling readers, Tedford said.
She decided to earn a master’s degree and perused the University of Central Arkansas’ catalog.
“They had a lot of great programs online,” Tedford said.
But when she saw that UCA offered a master’s degree in library science, she said ‘Oh, my goodness, yes, yes; I must do this.’ I was always at the library, at the book store, but I never thought about it as a career choice for some reason when I was looking at degree programs.”
“It hadn’t crossed my mind, and when I saw this, it all came together. I can teach a whole bunch of kiddos and work with all the elementary. I can share my favorite books, and hopefully, that love of reading I grew up with.”
Tedford graduated with her master’s degree Aug. 10 from UCA.
She’s excited to start her career as a librarian at the 380-student elementary school.
“I was a little nervous when I came in this summer to check it out. The books and shelves were piled in the hallway,” she said, laughing. The room received new carpet and some new shelving.
“We have nice, lower-profile shelving so I can see most of my kids when they’re perusing the books,” she said. “We have circle tables so we can work together.”
She said a Smart Board (an interactive whiteboard) is available to explore technology with the students “and let them get a little more involved.”
“I had not been able to work with the Smart Board at my previous school, so I’m super excited, even showing a slide show of the new Arkansas Charlie May Simon and Diamond Award books. I’m excited to get to introduce students to those award programs and really want to work it into my curriculum, where they get to vote [for the books],” she said.
She said there has to be a balance between reading and technology.
“I know it’s going to be a fine line,” she said.
Tedford said elementary principal Julie Wallace wants to focus on kindness this year, so every child will get a copy of Charlotte’s Web to take home, and each classroom will have a copy for the teachers to share with their students.
“It’s set on a farm, and we’ve got a lot of farming in the area. And it’s just teaching … you can be kind in different ways; it doesn’t take a huge gesture to be kind,” she said.
“I want to find out what students think the library is; from my older students, I want to find out what they want in the library. We have a great collection, but I have a little list going on of what students might want to add to the collection,” Tedford said.
She also plans to read a book called Library Lion to her younger students.
“This lion, he’s in the library — is there supposed to be a lion in the library? Well, is he following the rules?”
The book teaches children the rules of the library, she said — “no, you shouldn’t yell, but we can talk, and we can discuss.”
Tedford said she will collaborate with classroom teachers to complement the curriculum.
“If [students are] learning about the explorers, we can pull nonfiction in the library, books on Desoto or Columbus, or whomever has piqued their interest.”
Wallace said Tedford’s position “is extremely important to our students. In conjunction with the classroom teacher, she will instill a love of reading in our students. Not only will Mrs. Tedford be an asset to our students, but to our teachers as well. She has a wealth of knowledge about books and media resources that will greatly help our teachers.
“I think Mrs. Tedford will bring a love and excitement for reading. I am excited about the different reading initiatives she is bringing to our school. It’s very apparent that she has a passion for kids and a passion for teaching. She is going to make a great addition to the Bulldog family.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.