And the Emmy goes to…

Last Updated on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 02:32 pm Written by Suzanne Marino Friday, September 21, 2012 03:02 pm

Michele Yakopcic, librarian at the Seaview Elementary School in Linwood, created a program called, “Dewey Who?”that was filmed by an NJEA crew for a Classroom Close-up video that has been nominated for an Emmy.

LINWOOD – Seaview Elementary School is no stranger to the limelight. The New Jersey Department of Education named the school a Blue Ribbon School in 2010.

But this time around, it’s Hollywood that is taking a look at the pre-K to fourth grade school.

A wonderful program that brought dads, grandfathers, big brothers and other male figures in students’ lives into the school for an evening of reading together was included in a New Jersey Education Association Classroom Close-up video that has been nominated for an Emmy Award.

The segment, “Dewey Who?” is about the Dewey Decimal System.

School librarian Michele Yakopcic said it’s not a dusty old cabinet filled with cards. For her students, the Dewey Decimal System is a road map to the library. Her premise is that if the students know what the numbers mean, they will know the genre of the book by its number and where to find it in the library.

“They are able to walk into any library and find what they are looking for and maybe discover something new along the way,” said the librarian.

Yakopcic invited the third-grade students to come to the library one evening and the only requirement was that they bring an important male in their life. She said more than 75 percent of the families took part in the event.

When they arrived she explained what “Dewey Who?” was about, and that the student and their guest would be going on a scavenger hunt of sorts right there in the library. They would need to work as a team to complete their hunt.

“To see the students so excited to show their dads, their stepdads, their uncles and grandfathers what they knew and where to look for it was something for me to see,” said Yakopcic. “Once they completed their task they received a certificate and could enjoy a snack while they went and found a good place to relax and read to each other. It was really great to see all these men in the library. But what was really interesting was when it was over and it was time to leave, no one wanted to go. They were really enjoying this very special time they were having together.”

“This is really exciting for us,” said Seaview Principal Susan Speirs. “We love the program that our librarian Mrs. Yakopcic created for our third-grade families and we were very pleased that NJEA chose to come here to film a Classroom Close-up session.”

And while all the school families will be waiting to hear how the video fares this weekend as the Emmys are chosen, the one big lesson Yakopcic and Speirs hope that families take away from the video is to keep reading with your kids.

“Read with your children every day and don’t stop reading to them when they learn to read themselves,” said Speirs.