Joe Baca Middle School 8th graders Malaysia Majied and Faith Diaz share a hobby that might seem unusual for middle schoolers: They love books and reading.
The duo, who are in the Applied Library Media Studies class, share that love for literature with their Talk About It Tuesdays literacy show. The show is highlighted on the school’s social media feeds (on Tuesdays, as the title reflects).
Talk About It Tuesdays features the charismatic Malaysia interviewing a wide variety of guests, from fellow students, to teachers, to our district Superintendent about their favorite books. Faith is the camerawoman, quickly producing the show on her phone. Teacher Bethany Brendon posts the videos on the Joe Baca Middle School Library Instagram page.
You can catch Malaysia (filmed by Faith) on the Talk About It Tuesday program on Instagram @Jbms_library. Malaysia, Faith and Ms. Brendon will also be featured at the February 19 CJUSD Community Cabinet, which takes place from 10 AM – Noon at Joe Baca Middle School.
For the minute-long interviews (Instagram only allows videos to be one minute in length), Malaysia asks guests to share their favorite books and talk about why they love them. She then tells viewers where they can find the books – in the library and/or on the district Sora app, an online platform that allows middle and high school students as well as district staff to access approved materials such as e-books or audiobooks at no cost. A similar app – the Destiny Read app – is available for elementary students. CJUSD students, staff and families can access e-books and audio books and see other resources available to them by clicking on the book icon on their school’s web page on the district web site: www.cjusd.net.
“I’m so impressed with Faith and Malaysia and how they have taken the initiative to promote literacy on our social media channels,” said JBMS Teacher Librarian Bethany Brendon. “They’ve really gone above and beyond to get students reading at JBMS.”
For Malaysia, the project is a great way to immerse herself in her passion: books.
“Every day I’m surrounded by books and it encourages me to read more,” she said.
That wasn’t always the case, she said. Before taking the ALMS class, she was more engaged with her phone than with literature.
“Before the class, I was only on social media,” she said.
Without their introduction to just how exciting books can be, “We would be just phones, phones, phones,” Faith added.
“Kids lose interest in reading because they don’t want to be sitting on their bed chilling,” Faith added. “They think it’s a waste of time, but really it’s interesting.”
“The way they talk on Sora, it’s not like a robot,” Malaysia said, adding that narrators make the stories exciting.