E13 - Equitable & Engaging Learning Environments with Librarian Kenia Harding

On this episode of Blending In, I’m chatted with Kenia Harding, the award winning librarian from Diamond Valley Middle School who has been recognized as a Hemet Unified Employee of the Year and who has been a nominee for Riverside County Educator of the Year!  In our conversation, Kenia shared her passion for designing the Diamond Valley Middle School Library as an equitable, inclusive, and innovative space for students at DVMS!  Kenia has effectively blended technology into what is known as a "traditional learning space" to make it into a welcoming student-centered, technology-rich learning environment. 

Kenia began our conversation by sharing how books were a part of her home at an early age, thanks to her dad, and this cultivated an early love for reading. That love for books coupled with her desire to help children motivated her to pursue a career as a librarian. Her library is absolutely amazing and I asked her what has inspired her to create such an awesome learning environment for students.  In addition to her family (which she spoke fondly of at the beginning of our recording and gave a shout out too at the end of the episode), she said that her passion comes from seeing the students’ hunger to learn!  She hosts lots of events for her students like author visits (pictured right) or reading challenges in order to create a welcoming and inclusive space for all students.  She further explained that she tries to do celebrations every month, like celebrating Black History Month in February, PI day in March (3/14), and celebrating literacy through their “Starbooks” event in March!