Local Librarian Leads A Passionate Life
Beyond being an educator and librarian by trade, Amy Wade is a wife and mother with a passion for many things in life.
Raised in Rockdale County, her parents imparted many life lessons upon her that she now practices as an adult. Her mother worked as a baker and her father was a Delta Airlines employee, so of course pastries and travel were a big part of her upbringing.
It’s only natural that Amy loves making “sweets and treats” on a frequent basis though she doesn’t always partake of them but rather passes them along to co-workers. And as for travel, she loves to explore new places, nationally and internationally, whether it’s visiting family in New York, Wyoming, California, Wisconsin, and Florida or planning a Mediterranean cruise for her family.
Her immediate family, including husband Matthew, daughter Emmilyn, and son William are most dear to her and were the main reason she returned back to college to obtain her media technology degree. After 13 years of teaching third, fourth, and fifth grades at Washington Park Elementary School, she wanted to spend more time with her then young children so she decided becoming a media specialist could help her do so. With that degree earned, Amy became the dual media specialist at Washington Park and the Jasper County Primary School—a job she adored but admits required a ton of energy. Now for the first time in six years, she serves as media specialist for only Washington Park.
Amy is not just a media specialist but a great ambassador of public relations for Washington Park by always disseminating the good deeds and accomplishments of her students to the community as frequently as possible. The 1996 county-wide Teacher of the Year deserves admiration for the fact that she began her career as a student teacher in Jasper County, has remained here the entire time, and plans to conclude it here.
Her work began at the old Washington Park off Funderburg Drive when she heard from a Georgia College & State University colleague that there was a need for a long term substitute teacher there. She remembers her first day having some anxiety but upon entering the building feeling like she belonged there and never left because she loved it. And to hear her speak now after all these years, you can tell she still does.
“It’s fun to work at a place where the administration supports you and the staff is great,” said the librarian noting that all of the principals she has worked with (Tony Tanner, Dr. Shawne Holder, and Dr. Camille Stone) have supported her vision for the media center.
Upon taking over the media specialist position, she said her first goal was to make the area more inviting for young kids by brightening it up—doing away with much of the dull dark color palate and adding pops of color all over.
Amy is an endorser of all things associated with making her students more voracious readers particularly because reading is the basis for becoming a better student across the board, she believes.
“It’s important to find ways to keep kids excited about reading and encouraging them continuously,” she said.
The media specialist noted that it’s important for parents to continually encourage their kids to read, read, read no matter what their reading level may be. Aside from increasing their reading level, books can take kids, and adults alike, any place in the world they would like to be, noted Amy.
The media specialist has the school’s library up and running for summer while keeping hours Tuesday through Thursday for parents and kids to come check out books and complete Accelerated Reader (AR) tests in order to avoid the “summer slump.”
In her spare time when she is not baking, traveling, or reading, Amy likes to tend to her veggie garden, hike, camp and paint with oils. When their kids were younger, she and her husband both volunteered as Scout leaders—she with Girls Scouts and Matt with Boy Scouts.
‘I love kids and working with people. I feel blessed to have a strong Christian family. I love this community and to be where I am,” said the neighbor you should know.
