In a cozy library on the first floor of the newly-remodeled Pine Grove Elementary School sits a new face, librarian Erin Kelley, who shares how her first weeks at the school have gone.
During the wave of new hires at the beginning of the school year, Pine Grove Elementary was able to acquire a hard- working, kind spirit in Kelley. Kelley has high aspirations and much optimism about starting her new job. One of the things she’s most excited for is meeting her co-workers and students.
“I really would like to end my career here, ” said Kelley. “I’ve got a ways to go but this is what I would like to do.”
Kelley was hired by the Pine Grove Elementary School to take over the library. The task will not be easy as Kelley describes, but with time she will eventually meet her set goals. So far her coworkers and students speak very highly of her as a teacher and an overall person.
“My first impression was her friendly personality and eagerness to jump right in,” said art teacher Jennifer Dubis. “They [Students] already seem comfortable with her and have welcomed her into our PGS family.”
Pine Grove Elementary School hallways hold a modest,cozy library and media room. There’s a smell of fresh books that fills the room. Comfy chairs and a calming environment invite any passerby to stop in to read and relax. The library’s miniature bookshelves bring you back to the simpler time of your elementary school days.
Although Kelley is just starting out at Pine Grove, this is not her first time around the block. This new hire has been teaching for 20 years and is starting her second year as a librarian.
In college, Kelley said that she wanted to be a social worker. After working as a social worker she described it as something she didn’t really want to continue doing. Soon she started spending a lot of time with kids working at a daycare, and she finally realized her passion.
“I really enjoyed spending time with kids, so I started thinking well maybe I want to be a teacher,” said Kelley.
After that she went on to get her English degree and eventually her masters in education, which led her to being a classroom teacher for 18 years. From being a classroom teacher, Kelley decided to go get her library/media license which brought her to now starting her second year as a librarian.
Kelley really enjoys working with the younger kids and says that they just have a fun energy around them.
“I love teaching second grade,” said Kelley. “They kids are fun, they’re curious.”
She has two kids of her own who are ages 14 and 11 and who she says she loves to spend time with.
Despite the long drive from her house in Tewksbury, Kelley is now settling in at Pine Grove and meeting all the welcoming and friendly people.
“The people [at Pine Grove] are amazing, everybody is so nice, welcoming and friendly,” said Kelley.
As a librarian she is always looking to expand her collection of books and create a better atmosphere for her students, which happens to be one of her main goals at the moment.
Kelley is currently spending time going through the whole collection of books to find which ones are outdated and need to be replaced. She is also in the process of applying for a grant so that she can get audiobooks for her students as well as a subscription to the online book borrowing and ebook website Sora.
She is really focusing on the library piece of things right now and giving it her best over at Pine Grove for the interest of her students.
Outside of school and all of her work, Kelley has a quite adventurous personality. She says that she “loves outside stuff.” This includes things like kayaking, hiking, gardening and she even likes to go horse riding occasionally.
Despite the kind of “overwhelming” start, it appears that Kelly is getting things figured out and has a bright future ahead of her making Pine Grove Elementary a friendly space and learning environment for all of her students.
