Mrs. Melissa McDermid-Wiercinski is currently a Librarian at Ways Elementary School. Fun, hands-on lessons with real-world connections were a staple in Melissa's third-grade class at Kenbrook Elementary School in Farmington Hills. When teaching students about Medieval times, she had them become king or queen for a day; when teaching the impact of humans on the environment, she had them sit in a tent or a canoe. Ms. McDermid's students did more than learn curricular subjects—they built character as well during daily Morning Meetings that she facilitated. Ms. McDermid was chair of the school's North Central Accreditation School Improvement Steering Committee and she was a member of the district's curriculum writing and revision committees. She is very involved in helping students who speak no English assimilate into the school culture, and even supported one non-English-speaking student's family for two years with weekly tutoring, home visits and food baskets. When the family sought U.S. citizenship, Ms. McDermid turned it into a civics lesson for her class. Connections don't get more real-world than that.
