Shannon Woest helps kids connect to the world through a love of books.
Shannon Woest volunteered at Mission Viejo’s Del Lago Elementary School 13 years ago and never left.
She felt like she belonged there and fell in love with working in the school’s library. When the position of library media clerk opened in 2017, she applied and got the job. Today she manages a variety of tasks that go beyond the scope of four library walls, yet she does it all with a broader goal of encouraging students’ emotional growth — curating ways to build their self-confidence, sense of connection to the world and compassion for others.
To do this, she must really get to know her students.
She takes the time to interact with each of the school’s approximately 400 students each week, learning their names and interests so she can better engage them. She chooses literature she knows will spark meaningful conversation, and she has even elevated their read-aloud experience using an app called Novel Effect that plays interactive music and sound effects as she reads.
April Kim, a Del Lago parent who volunteers with Woest weekly, says she thoughtfully selects literature on important social and emotional issues. She notes a time that Woest chose “a book featuring a main character with Down syndrome, prompting thoughtful discussions that educated and enlightened our young learners. This open dialogue not only broadened their understanding but also created a supportive environment for those with special needs.”
Kim adds that Woest also has an innate ability to think outside of traditional methods and connect with students.
“She once displayed remarkable insight when a struggling student had difficulty during library time. Rather than resorting to traditional disciplinary measures, she found a way to involve the child by assigning them a meaningful task — distributing library cards. The transformation was astonishing as the child eagerly embraced the role and flourished within the library environment.”
This kind of work isn’t always tangible and seeing positive outcomes from it can be years in the making. But Woest is patient to see it through, honing in on students’ emotional needs and helping them build a foundation for lifelong learning.
She recalls a recent rewarding moment with a student she worked with five years ago.
“I saw this same little first-grade girl every day,” says Woest. “I was helping her learn to read, but she was struggling with sounding the words out and taking quite a long time to get through one sentence. She’s now a sixth-grader and just this past spring, I saw her, and she pulled a book off the shelf and began reading it to me. The joy that was there …there was this sense that this was no longer a chore, and she was doing it for fun. It makes you feel like you have some sort of impact.”
Woest has also spearheaded multiple initiatives to improve access and accountability for students around library resources, including a self-checkout kiosk that fosters more responsibility in students to manage their own library books and a district-wide program with OC Public Libraries and the Mission Viejo Library that made thousands of e-books and learning resources available to Saddleback Valley Unified School District students in Orange County.
“Our schools use a library app called Sora while local libraries use its sister app, Libby. I wanted to make it possible for students to be able to check out e-books, so I called our district library/media services technician and they researched and submitted our request to the district. The district ended up partnering with both OC Libraries and Mission Viejo Library to use digital catalogs for them to be able to check out e-books not just for our school, but for the whole district. Since the program was implemented in January of this year, students have opened over 10,000 e-books.”
While there are many excellent educators in Orange County, Woest’s ability to create whole-child learning through literature and discussion is what truly makes her one of superior caliber.
By Danielle Encinas
Leave a Reply