Deb Chaja joined the Portage Township School Corporation for the benefit of her children. She stayed when she realized she could continue to inspire other students the way she had her own.
“It was really important to me to be parent involved in my children’s school. We need parent backing. We need support, and understanding. These kids have more of a chance of growing up more responsible and respectful. You can tell the difference between a kid who has parent backing and one who doesn’t.”
Deb and her husband have three children who share their passion for reading. Reading has kept Deb involved with her children at every stage of their lives. She still reads to her grandchildren, like she did with their parents when they were young.
To further invest in her children, Deb joined the PTA at their school. She spent a few years as the President, conducting meetings and organizing student events. Mr. Seamus, the Principal at the time, invited her to join the school staff as an Assistant Teacher. It allowed her to be more involved. Deb gave students the opportunity for remediation. She helped them with any area of study that they struggled with and made sure they knew they had her support.
“The look in children’s eyes when they succeed in something I had helped them with, that meant the world to me. They were so thankful.”
Eight years later a new position opened up that Mr. Seamus thought she would be perfect for. The librarian was retiring, and Deb took her place amongst the books.
“I knew I would be involved with the whole school, instead of one grade level. Reading is life. You can’t do anything without reading, they would fail without it. It teaches compassion, respect, effort. All of our core values have a lot to do with reading.”
Deb has read a book to each class every week for six years. She prefers to pick books that have to do with the season or the month. When it is close to a holiday, sometimes they play Bingo or do puzzles instead. The main focus, however, stays on reading. It is what Deb does best.
“I just adore when kids walk into the library and are so excited to hear the story I’m going to read to them. They can’t wait to read their own books.”
They have ten minutes of reading, then fifteen to check out. At book fairs, they are excited to buy books to keep for themselves. After they read something, they can take a comprehension test and it counts toward their grade.
“They’re starting to grow up. They are starting to have their own minds, and need to find out what they are interested. Not what we want them to be interested in.”
Deb says the older kids struggle more to find things they like but she loves being able to help them search. The younger ones are happy with anything.
Having experience in the library teaches children responsibility. They must take care of the books they check out. If they do not return them on time, they incur fees and cannot take more books home. When they get older, they learn the Dewey Decimal System so they can navigate the shelves on their own.
“Our goal for the library is to make sure they are constantly reading, and excited to. It’s my job to make sure they find something that they are interested in. The simple reason is that reading is life. It is important to learn- that is how you grow as a person.”