OCM BOCES School Library System honors two with 2015 Administrator/Advocate of the Year award

On Wednesday, May 13, 2015, OCM BOCES presented their 2015 School Library System Administrator/Advocate of the Year award to two deserving individuals; Mary Curcio, Superintendent for the McGraw Central School District and Debra Sitnik-Casavant, teacher collaboration advocate with the Solvay Union Free School District.

The award is presented annually to an educational administrator/library advocate the OCM (Onondaga, Cortland, Madison) region who has made significant contributions to school librarianship.

Mary Curcio (pictured above), who was nominated for the award by School Librarian Geoff Hinman, is recognized for her efforts to support and grow her district’s school library program by bridging budget shortfalls through innovative grants and by providing a vision for the transformation of the library program from a traditional model towards a program that is integrated with the student learning process. Under Ms. Curcio’s leadership the district has been able to support full-time librarian and half-time reading specialist and library aide positions by procuring funds through various grants over the past two years.

Ms. Curcio also requested that the librarian serve on the district’s curriculum and technology advisory councils. “Making a concerted effort to place the librarian on these two committees demonstrates a vision that the librarian should be an integral part of the shared decision making in these areas,” said Mr. Hinman. “She has been supportive of transformative technology that supports student learning and has promoted positive action towards 21st Century Learning through grant-funding. This has allowed for more dynamic learning opportunities in the classroom and library media center, ” Hinman added. 

Under Curcio’s leadership, the district has improved its Information Technology processes and network, utilizing the assistance of OCM BOCES staff and services. Hinman said, “She has helped establish more open channels of communication and collaboration opportunities with school wide initiatives such as Google Apps for Education, a guest wireless network, and the un-filtering of various social based web 2.0 technologies.” “This has all supported the vision that the library becomes a forward leaning, technology rich environment that supports innovative 21st Century teaching and learning,” he added.

Debra Sitnik-Casavant (pictured left), who was nominated for the award by School Librarian Heather Turner, is recognized for her efforts to support and grow her district’s school library program through collaboration, education and the cultivation of partnerships. As a new librarian at Solvay Middle School, Heather Turner says that she came to the school with many “crazy” ideas and proposed changes and that she appreciates the support that Debra gave her to bring those ideas to fruition. “Deb was right there with me just as excited and willing to try,” she said. “It was okay if things did not go perfectly. We were in it together.” 

As a teacher at Solvay Middle School, Debra encourages collaboration that crosses curriculum areas. Heather said, “At the end of last year, Deb invited me to be a part of a collaboration between the Social Studies and Writing classes. [We] spent over 20 hours creating Project Basked Learning projects the next year. She constantly tells people about the collaboration that we have done which has led to more teachers coming me to work together. It is as of result of this and other projects that I have had the connections with teachers that I have.”

For more information about the OCM BOCES School Library System or their Administrator/Advocate of the Year Award, contact Doreen Bergman, School Library System Program Coordinator at 315/433-2665.