2018 School Spending Survey Report
Liz Phipps Soeiro | Movers & Shakers 2017 – Educators
Thanks to the efforts of school librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro, students and their families at Cambridgeport School Library know that their voices matter. Through innovative programs, Phipps Soeiro builds strong and trusting relationships among students, families, and community leaders. “Liz gives kids [and families] the opportunity to find their civic voice and use it to fight for what is right,” says Audrey Sturgis, Cambridgeport assistant principal.
CURRENT POSITION
School Librarian, Cambridgeport School Library, Cambridge, MA
DEGREE
MSLIS, Simmons College, Boston, 2007
FOUNDER
Cambridge Book Bike
FOLLOW
@ReflectLibrary, @Book_Bike, @Cport_Special (Twitter); CambridgeBookBike (Facebook); cambridgebookbike.org; reflectivelibrary.blogspot.com
Photo by Kristen Joy Emack
Civics Lessons
Thanks to the efforts of school librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro, students and their families at Cambridgeport School Library know that their voices matter. Through innovative programs, Phipps Soeiro builds strong and trusting relationships among students, families, and community leaders. “Liz gives kids [and families] the opportunity to find their civic voice and use it to fight for what is right,” says Audrey Sturgis, Cambridgeport assistant principal.
Her teaching makes issues come alive for students, connecting what they read in school to their lives. Students learn about research, communication, and advocacy and have lobbied local leaders for projects such as school playground upgrades and a “little free library” in a city park. Phipps Soeiro does not preplan projects for the year, instead letting students’ interests guide their efforts.
Phipps Soeiro is also the founder of the Cambridge Book Bike, a grassroots project that distributes books at city parks during the summer, with a focus on locations that serve free lunch. Over the past three summers, the program has grown from three parks to five and has given out approximately 6,000 books. The group partners with local organizations like the Cambridge Public Library and Food for Free, which provides free farmers markets. The program is “holistic,” Phipps Soeiro says, with a mantra of “full bellies, full minds.”
About five years ago, she introduced a weekly program called “Coffee and Conversation,” welcoming families and caregivers to the school library to discuss topics of current interest. About once per month, she invites guest speakers such as city councilors, district administrators, and nonprofit representatives to engage with families in casual conversation.
At these meetings, “families learn [about] what is available to them and have the opportunity to make personal connections with, as Liz puts it, ‘decision-makers,’ ” says Sturgis.
One meeting with a nonprofit led to families being matched with free tablets and math apps, while another prompted construction of a new playground. The meetings let people feel they are heard on topics that make a difference in their lives, the lives of their children, and the broader community.
Due to a disproportionate number of comments in violation of LJ's Comment Policy, comments on this post have been temporarily turned off.
Add Comment :-
Added To Cart
RELATED
RECOMMENDED
TECHNOLOGY
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN
We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN
Thank you for visiting.
We’ve noticed you are using a private browser. To continue, please log in or create an account.
- Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
- Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
- Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
- Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media, per our Terms of Use.
We are not able to monitor every comment that comes through (though some comments with links to multiple URLs are held for spam-check moderation by the system). If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate. We accept clean XHTML in comments, but don't overdo it and please limit the number of links submitted in your comment. For more info, see the full Terms of Use.