Lindblom’s Librarian Pushes Students To Do More Than Read

We’re celebrating Teachers Appreciation Week the week of May 7-11!

Gina Caneva doesn’t fit the tired stereotype of the high school librarian. She doesn’t sit behind a towering stack of books, frowning at students, as she reminds them to “shhh!” every few minutes. While she does spend most of her days surrounded by shelves and shelves of books, the Lindblom High School librarian and Writing Center Director is busy planning lessons on effective database searches and plagiarism. Caneva, a former English teacher, says that her new role still allows her to work with students, just in a different way.

“I have different interactions with them,” she said. “There are different authority roles, and in this one I’m being more of a facilitator of learning and student ideas. I really get to see how creative students are and I’m able to push their ideas and advocate for them.”

For example, in 2016, her students participated in the Aspen Challenge, which asks teens to “design solutions to some of the most critical issues humanity faces.”

They presented their solution to help promote financial literacy in their school and community. The students formed MoneyLyfe and began hosting bank fairs at school and Earle STEM Academy in Englewood.

And in 2017, she worked closely with another group who wanted to promote healthy eating. She recruited the “Students Understanding, Preparing and Eating Real Food” team, or SUPERFood for short. To meet the Aspen Challenge, the team decided to build wooden boxes that will serve as mini-food pantries with the help of a retired carpenter. They filled them up with healthy snacks like granola bars, popcorn — the healthy version — and fruits for students and communities.

One accomplishment she’s most proud of is playing a significant role in launching Lindblom’s first Writing Center, led by students. Caneva said she had the interest in doing it since graduating from the University of Illinois-Chicago. While studying at the university, Caneva was required to take the writing center course.

“I said, ‘Let’s bring the UIC Writing Center here [to Lindblom],” she said, adding that she takes the students through a six-week training course. She’s also responsible for securing a grant to create the new space. Before her, the center didn’t exist.

Caneva got her start in education after some persuasion from her father to take a few educational courses, she explained.

Attending UIC on a volleyball scholarship, Caneva said she wanted to be a writer, but had always thought she would become a volleyball coach.

“The first class I had at UIC in the Education College was very moving to me,” she said. “The professor was really into talking about race and culture, and education. I had never talked about that.”

She said her student-teaching experience empowered her to pursue a career in education.

Becoming a librarian, however, was never a part of the plan.

Her first two teaching jobs were at Corliss and TEAM Englewood, neither had libraries. When she came to Lindblom as an English teacher, Caneva said she saw the potential of the library.

“I didn’t really know the power of it until I came here,” she said. “I was just like, ‘That would be a really cool job.’”

During Caneva’s second year at Lindblom HS, the librarian at the time left, and there was an opening. She said she took some courses to become certified.

“It just all kind of fell into place,” Caneva said. “I love this job. There’s so much fun on a day-to-day basis.”

Her hope is that students gain meaningful experiences both inside and outside the classroom.

“I’ve heard some kids say that they only see the neighborhood through the glass of a car window, so I want to make sure that we are doing things in the neighborhood,” Caneva said.

“I think through the Aspen challenge and the Writing Center, we are doing things.”

“I really want students to be creative, to work very hard in what they’re doing, and to think how they can use each other for support, myself included.”

Caneva, who is currently enrolled in UIC’s PhD program for Language, Literacy and Culture, divides her time between the high school and other committees and councils. She sits on the Teacher Advisory Council and is a member of the Educational Advisory Council for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. She’s also a member of the Consortium Steering Committee (University of Chicago’s educational research arm for CPS).

FOLLOW Chicago Public Schools on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Invite your friends to do the same. Share our messages throughout the week.

USE THE HASHTAG #ThankATeacher to celebrate and share stories about your favorite teachers throughout the week.

CELEBRATE TEACHERS all week long. Tell your friends and community to share this toolkit and encourage others to participate! Our social media toolkit has avatars, shareable graphics, and ideas for how you can join in the celebration.