Ecademie Opens Ortiz Media Center for Students, Community
Ecademie High School unveiled its new Ortiz Media Center to the public and Goodwill employees on Nov. 5 during an emotional and festive ceremony at the Eagles Campus.
The grand opening event, which was mainly held in the cafeteria, featured raffle drawings, snacks, refreshments and wonderful library-themed decorations created by the Ecademie students and staff.
Ecademie was able to establish the library due to a $206,000 grant from the Improving Literacy through School Libraries (LSL) program (U.S. Department of Education). The library will allow Ecademie to improve student literacy skills and academic achievement while strengthening Goodwill's commitment to help students overcome their personal barriers.
Principal Kristen Smith served as the mistress of ceremonies and Jim Teter, President and CEO, welcomed the crowd with remarks about the valuable partnership between Goodwill of Central Arizona and Ecademie. Teter said he was grateful to Ecademie for working so diligently to establish a library that will benefit the students and the community.
Student Brenda Coleman gave an excellent presentation about the new Ortiz Media Center.
“My personal favorite is that the library is open for the community,” said Coleman. The library will be open to the public on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The library contains 10 brand-new computers and more than 4,000 fiction and nonfiction books (English and Spanish) for children and adults. The computers are equipped with Internet access, DVD media players, World Book Encyclopedia Online and other educational software. The Ortiz Media Center is staffed by librarian Kathy McInerney and reading teacher Lisa Resh. McInerney and Resh look forward to implementing a series of strategies and incentives to encourage more students to take advantage of the facility.
The library was named as the Ortiz Media Center in honor of Arturo Ortiz, Jr. who passed away in April 2009. Before his death, Ortiz served as Superintendent of Ecademie High School and Principal of our Woods Campus. Ortiz joined Goodwill of Central Arizona in 2003 to establish Ecademie High School.
Principal Smith fought back tears as she told the audience, "Mr. Ortiz set the vision for the school and wanted it to be a safe haven for students and the community. We dedicate this library to the memory of Arturo Ortiz, our teacher, mentor and friend."
Smith said she is looking forward to hosting regular workshops for young parents, parent/child nights, adult literacy and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Ecademie also intends to collaborate with local literacy volunteers and trainers to support the program.
