This month, Scholastic has some new job postings highlighted as part of our regular "Career Corner" series. Perhaps you'd be the right fit for one! As always, you can also check our LinkedIn page and our brand-new Career site. (Also: check out our Talent Network! See the note at the bottom of this post.)

Featured Jobs for August:

• Learning Management System Administrator (Lake Mary, FL)
• eCMS Architect/Developer
• Senior Marketing Analyst
• Senior Analyst, Testing and Optimization 

Learning Management System Administrator (Lake Mary, FL)

The Learning Management System Administrator is responsible for the support, design, development, implementation, delivery, and maintenance of resources used for instructional functions. The LMS Administrator is the primary system administrator for Scholastic’s learning management system (LMS) and integrated tools and oversees the installation of all system updates, upgrades, integrated tools, and other software integrated with the LMS. The LMS administrator will maximize the learning management system, establish user roles and related processes, manage data and content in the system, and provide end-user technical support.

Responsibilities include: 

• Learning Management System and Integrated Learning Tools (80% of time).

Handle the administration of the Scholastic Learning Management System to include, but not limited to:

• Overall administration of Learning Management System to include: load learning objects; create course catalogs, assessments, curriculum, monthly home page changes and LMS training calendars. Design and setup of automated delivery of participation reports as requested.

• Design and communicate processes and policies for administrators, HR Business partners, managers, and employees.

• Troubleshooting and interfacing with HRIS team, vendors, Scholastic IT/Technical staff and troubleshooting LMS issues with the users. Create and maintain an LMS recording system to document and track trouble tickets.

To view the complete job description, including additional responsibilities and desired qualifications, click here.

eCMS Architect/Developer

The eCMS Architect/Developer is a dual role opportunity in which the optimal candidate started out as a developer building state of the art scalable performant systems, and over their career, evolved into an architect that was given responsibility of designing the systems as well. The person in this position will be spending half their time as architect and other half as developer. 

Job responsibilities:

As the eCMS Architect, the person in this position will be responsible for the creation and communication of architectural solutions for the eCMS domain. The eCMS Architect will participate and provide leadership guidance in the system architecture, design, development, testing and validation phases of eCMS software solutions. This role needs to be filled by an architect that will adopt technologies and design practices to produce architectures that are scalable, reliable and extensible. Our mission is to streamline the way in which our business partners do their work and to promote the discoverability and reuse of digital content across the organization.

To view the complete job description, including additional responsibilities and desired qualifications, click here.

Senior Marketing Analyst

The Senior Marketing Analyst will be responsible for reporting and analyzing multi-channel marketing campaigns to determine opportunities to increase efficiencies and maximize return on marketing investment. The ideal candidate will have the strategic, creative and analytical skills needed to connect quantitative data to insights that will drive and change our marketing activities across all channels.

Responsibilities include:

• Analyze relevant media and financial data to generate reports/presentations that provide actionable insights and identify growth opportunities.

• Maintain and distribute standardize media performance recaps for marketing campaigns and promotional events, using attribution and internal data.

• Collaborate with internal marketing partners to develop goals and KPIs for media channels, providing recommendations for upcoming events and campaigns.

• Capable of creating site and channel-specific performance “deep dives” to uncover performance improvement opportunities.

To view the complete job description, including additional responsibilities and desired qualifications, click here.

Senior Analyst, Testing and Optimization 

The Senior Analyst, Testing and Optimization is responsible for driving business results by developing, managing and executing testing programs for Scholastic’s digital and offline assets, helping stakeholders across the company achieve their revenue, acquisition and retention goals.

The Senior Analyst will also work collaboratively with analytics, data engineering and Scholastic’s businesses to help develop best practice testing processes and systems. Furthermore, this role will driving continuous improvements and advances in the testing program.

Responsibilities include: 

• Establish testing standards by implementing leading industry knowledge and best practices in site testing, including proper test design, sampling, statistical and analytical methodologies. Identify emerging optimization tools and methodologies through vendor review, and recommend new testing techniques and testing technologies to improve test quality and effectiveness.

• Address business requirements and objectives by defining, scoping, designing, and executing site and multi-channel controlled tests in conjunction with Scholastic’s businesses and analytics group.

• Work cross-functionally and leverage various data sources to proactively identify, quantify, and prioritize the most impactful tests to increase consumer engagement and revenue opportunities.

To view the complete job description, including additional responsibilities and desired qualifications, click here.

Don't forget!

Click here to join our Talent Network! The Scholastic Talent Network is free and easy to join, and doing so will enhance your job search and application process.

• Receive alerts about new job opportunities that match your interests

• Stay up-to-date on company news from Scholastic

• Be able to digitally share job opportunities with family and friends

Whether you choose to apply to a specific role today or just leave your information for future opportunities, we look forward to staying connected with you!

We already know that books make the best birthday gifts. But I also think a book is the perfect gift for any occasion. (Including when there isn't even one.) And who easier to buy a book for than your BFF?

For example, one of my BFFs recently had a baby. I'm going to visit her soon, and I plan on bringing some Joyce Wan titles that she and her daughter can enjoy: You Are My Cupcake and We Belong Together. They're cute with bright colors appealing to baby, plus it's a quick, easy read aloud for momma.

The books we give our BFFs are just as special as they are. Maybe you're gifting a certain book for a fun reason, a serious reason, an inside-joke reason, or maybe no reason at all! Or maybe you just read a book you know your BFF would love. We all have our reasons, and they're all different.

I asked my fellow OOMers about the books they'd give their BFFs and why. Here's what they shared!

Julia: Here is a book I actually gave my BFF.

My best friend and I both waited tables when we were younger, and would spend hours talking about the very bizarre and dramatic world of restaurant work. Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential was the first book I ever read that captured that work in a way that rang true (at least in spirit, if not the exact particulars). I gave Kitchen Confidential to her, because whatever your experience, it’s always nice to feel recognized in a book. 

Mariana: I would give my BFF The Girl on the Train, because it’s where I met her for the first time, and A Thousand Splendid Suns, just because it was one of the best books I ever read.

Stefany: I recommended Disrupting Thinking to a teacher friend of mine. She's currently working on a book with a college of hers and the book outlines a lot of the teaching techniques the two of them try to implement in their high school classrooms. She bought it the next day!

Brittany: I love giving my friends books that have helped me grow in my career! This includes #Girlboss, by Sophia Amoruso and Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. 

Loribelle: My BFF is my sis – I would give her Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. She struggles with actually finishing a book once she’s started reading it but I think this could be an easy read for her since she already loves the movie so much! It’s one of her faves. 

Jo: A friend of mine recently went through a breakup, so to help her get her mind off of sad thoughts, I gave her a variety of titles: Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older for a great fantasy/escapism read, Unbecoming by Jenny Downham in case she wanted a good cry and story about identity, and Beauty Queens by Libba Bray for a funny/satirical read.

Here's a trend I noticed among these responses! Buying a house = the perfect time to help your friends build a new-home library.

Alex: This summer, my best friend (and a new-ish homeowner) planted her very first flower and vegetable garden. With this in mind, I would give her the book The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. 

Emily: My BFF just bought her first house, and she now has a beautiful garden! To remind her to always see the beauty that’s in front of her, I would gift her The Secret Garden. 

The National Student Poets Program (NSPP) has announced its sixth class of youth poets.

Five teenagers have been chosen from among thousands of award-winning poets to receive the country’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work. The distinguished student poets will be appointed by the Librarian of Congress and the Director of the IMLS at a ceremony August 31, 2017 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Check out the full press release to learn more about the program.

Representing five geographical regions of the nation, the 2017 National Student Poets are:

• Annie Castillo, age 16 of Falls Church, VA, junior at George Mason High School
• Kinsale Hueston, age 17 of Corona del Mar, CA, senior at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
• Ben Lee, age 16 of Edina, MN, junior at The Blake School
• Juliet Lubwama, age 17 of Downingtown, PA, senior at Downingtown STEM Academy
• Camila Sanmiguel, age 17 of Laredo, TX, senior at J.B. Alexander High School

The National Student Poets Program is an initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers which administers the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. To be considered for appointment as a National Student Poet, students first must receive a national medal from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nearly century-old program known for its recognition and celebration of the country’s creative teens.

Throughout the year, the poets will serve as literary ambassadors and will share their passion for poetry and the literary arts with their communities and at libraries and museums throughout their regions. This will be done through service projects, workshops, and public readings. In addition, each poet will receive a $5,000 academic award.

Other appointment events during the National Book Festival weekend include public readings of the National Student Poets’ work and a private workshop for the students with 21st US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.

The National Student Poets Program is open to high school sophomores and juniors who submit work to, and receive a national medal from, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This year out of a pool of more than three hundred award-winning poets representing 40 states from Hawaii to Massachusetts, 35 semi-finalists were invited to submit additional poetry and performance videos to distinguished jurors for final selection as National Student Poets.

To learn more about the program, visit http://www.artandwriting.org/national-student-poets-program/.

by Jodie Rodriguez

Very soon we'll be trading in the sound of the ice cream truck bell for the sound of the school bell. The start of a new school year is right around the corner. With the season comes the opportunity to put in place some back-to-school habits that can help your children build their literacy skills.

Here are four practical ideas to help your family kick-off the school year.

1. Keep Up With a Reading Log

Many schools request children to read at home several times a week. Even if the school does not require daily reading, it's still one of the best habits to put in place at home. 

Keeping a reading log will help your kids track the books they read. When your kids can look back and see how many books they read each month, it provides a sense of accomplishment. 

Writing down the titles or minutes read each day will also give your child a little extra handwriting practice. They might even give each book a star rating system and critique each book that is read.

A weekly or bi-weekly trip to the public library will ensure that you have plenty of reading material on hand. The Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report: 6th Edition shows a majority of kids agree “it is very important for their future to be a good reader,” but only one in three is a frequent reader (i.e. reads 5-7 days a week). So, don't forget to let your kids choose their own books for reading at home.

2. Create a Nightly Reading Routine

In our house, we follow a "triple B" nighttime routine: bath, books, and bed.

Right before their bath time, my kids pick out two or three books that they want to have read aloud that night. They lay their chosen books on the bed where they'll be ready to read right after they take their baths and put on pajamas. Each night, my husband and I alternate reading to the kids. Then, once the books are done, it's time for bed. You can also choose books before dinner, if your kids don't bathe before bed.

Research shows families love read aloud time. The Kids & Family Reading Report shows kids ages 6-11 and parents say their top reasons the love read-aloud time is "it's a special time together" and "reading together is fun."

Need some read-aloud ideas? Check out these books parents love to read to their kids.

3. Have Dinnertime Discussions

Take advantage of your captive audience at the dinner table each night. Implement a "no screens policy" so that distractions will be limited, which in turn will encourage conversation. Here are a couple of prompts to connect as a family: 

• Tell us something you learned today.
• Share something that you were proud of today.
• What is something that you wished didn't happen today?
• What are you most looking forward to tomorrow?

Using the prompts above will help you learn about what successes and struggles your kids experienced during the day. The last prompt will help your child think ahead to a new day.

For more activities to help build literacy skills at the table, see how to practice storytelling with kids at dinnertime and three ways to build vocabulary at dinner. 

4. Plan Ahead

If you know that Wednesday nights are soccer practice and Thursday nights are piano lessons, plan ahead to squeeze in literacy learning.

Your kids can listen to audiobooks in the car on the way to practice. Start with these five awesome audiobooks.

Or, you can quiz your kids on their spelling words while you drive. If you still have a few minutes, ask your kids to tell you about the last book they read.

Putting a few habits in place now will have you feeling prepared and confident when the school bell rings.

To learn more helpful tips for success, get great book recommendations, and find out what to expect for each grade, check out Scholastic Parents’ Start Smart: Back-to-School Guide.

This week, Scholastic Professional announced the release of Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success by Dr. Karen L. Mapp, Senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Faculty Director of the Education Policy and Management Master’s Program, and Boston, MA educators Ilene Carver and Jessica Lander.

This new title, available just in time for educators heading back to school this fall, highlights the critical need for engagement between schools and families for lasting student success and urges K–12 educators to evaluate their own core values and develop the mindset necessary for fostering respectful, trusting, and effective relationships with families to support student learning.

Readers are guided through important steps for engaging families in their children’s learning, including, examining core beliefs, harnessing the power of partnerships, welcoming and connecting with families, transforming family conferences and IEP meetings, maintaining relationships with families throughout the year, and supporting this work with family-friendly resources. Powerful Partnerships also incorporates educator and parent stories and examples from Ilene and Jessica’s own classrooms.

The book also offers access to an online resource bank that can be used for planning professional learning opportunities for educators and family engagement events throughout the school year.

*GIVEAWAY!*

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone for participating!

Educators, we want to hear about the powerful partnerships you are creating for your classroom! We’re giving away one copy of Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success and one ready-to-use Scholastic Literacy Event kit designed to engage and empower families to support their children’s academic achievement. The kit features interactive activities with practices and strategies that maximize reading and writing success.

To enter, leave us a comment below responding to the following question: How do you plan to foster powerful partnerships in your classroom this year?

One entry per person. All entries must be submitted by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, August 25, 2017. U.S. residents, 18 and over, please. See the complete legal rules here.

This week on the podcast, we have something special — and a little different — for our listeners! We know from research that reading aloud is one of the best ways to turn kids into lifelong readers, and over the past 40 plus episodes of the Scholastic Reads podcast, we’ve asked A LOT of talented authors to read aloud from their work.

For episode #45, we’ve stitched our picture book read-alouds together into one "summer short" that’s perfect to share with your 3- to 8-year-old!

After the read-alouds, we also talk with Tara Welty, editor-in-chief of Scholastic Teacher, about their 50 Brilliant Books for Summer list. Each year, the team combs through hundreds of books to make recommendations to keep kids reading all summer long.

Pop in your headphones and give the episode a listen here! You can also listen on your iOS or Android device.

As part of my role here at Scholastic, I'm one of a few people who tweet from our corporate Twitter account. And to get more specific, sometimes I tweet about an interview or Facebook Live featuring our librarian (and friend to this series) Deimosa. When this happens, I know the exact photo to use.

Responses to the photo are very consistent; people love it–and by extension, they *love* the card catalog!

For part two of this little Throwback Thursday sub-series about old school tools (the first was all about microfilm and microfiche), today we're going to do a deep dive into the Scholastic card catalog!

Our card catalog is physically located in the Scholastic Archive, which is in our building's sub-basement. It serves a function for all our classroom magazines similar to that of a book's index. The entire catalog is divided into drawers, with different magazines each assigned to a drawer. Cards in the catalog are divided by either subject, title, author, or cover. 

• Subject cards: these list everything in a certain publication for one year on a specific subject

• Title cards: these feature one article title per card, and also list their volume and page number
• Author cards: these list all the articles an author wrote in one year, per publication

• Cover cards: created at the end of the year, these cards list all the covers in one year for a magazine

Scholastic librarians had to meticulously make each card by hand, for each year, until the 1990s. Then, with the advent of computers, online databases became popular and new content was digitized instead of being added to the card catalog.

So why do we still have and use the card catalog? A lot of our materials are not digitized yet (meaning all our classroom magazines pre the 1990s), and sometimes, the Library staff receives a request that makes them search through these older materials. Maybe someone was once on a cover of one of our magazines, or they won a Scholastic Art & Writing Award when they were a teen–these are all requests the Library has recieved and turned to the card catalog for!

Special thanks to Librarian Deimosa Webber-Bey for her ongoing help with this series!

For the second year, Scholastic's Summer Reading Road Trip traveled across the country, bringing beloved authors, book characters, and hours of fun to families and kids in more than 25 cities! To celebrate the end of this 10,000+ mile journey, we're rounding up some of our favorite social media moments!

 

One cool looking #hondoblair meeting and greeting at the #scholasticsummerreading event at the bookstore in Brewster this morning #readtoachieve #beachboundblairs

A post shared by Nadia Blair (@nadiaeblair) on

Jul 5, 2017 at 10:11am PDT

 

What better way to get kids excited about summer reading than a pop-up book festival!? The Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip made a stop at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, New Jersey today! It was a beautiful sunny day filled with smiles, games and prizes, author signings, and even read-alouds. Swipe through to check out some of the great photos from the event, and see when the Road Trip RV is stopping near you by clicking the link in our bio!

A post shared by Scholastic (@scholasticinc) on

Jul 11, 2017 at 1:59pm PDT

Spending time hanging out w/ Clifford @ThirdPlaceBooks in Lake Forest Park, WA for @Scholastic's Summer Reading Tour! Signing at 10am! pic.twitter.com/f3aZXuNATz

— Kazu Kibuishi (@boltcity) July 22, 2017

My kid was so excited to meet @boltcity today. Thank you @ThirdPlaceBooks and @Scholastic for a fabulous pop-up reading festival! pic.twitter.com/Bq94NVNsx2

— Edith Hope Bishop (@ehbishop) July 23, 2017

Denton Avenue School celebrated reading with a visit from the Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip RV and children’s author Tracey West. pic.twitter.com/AOtMbpqIvI

— Herricks Schools (@HerricksSchools) June 13, 2017

The @Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip RV is coming to @SaratogaLibrary Library today 2-4! @TogaNorthshire #SaratogaSprings pic.twitter.com/TIIYvqHMUE

— Mamatoga (@mamatoga) July 6, 2017

Happened upon Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip. If you see one, be sure to stop by. We had the best time. @timetoread @Scholastic pic.twitter.com/ZUekY3zfrx

— elly swartz (@ellyswartz) July 7, 2017

In the Scholastic Summer Reading Roadtrip RV with fellow Scholastic author-illustrator Jay Cooper signing a table … https://t.co/bWJk0fvkDc pic.twitter.com/8YOI7BlbTI

— Joyce Wan (@wanart) July 12, 2017

The crew is hard at work setting up the @Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip @TowneBookCenter. See you at 7! pic.twitter.com/IajQwaKRuf

— Tracey West (@TraceyWestBooks) July 12, 2017

Little Shop of Stories and Scholastic Host the Ultimate Summer Reading Road Trip Celebration https://t.co/R5DsQ6PEZa pic.twitter.com/iF0Uf1plc5

— Atlanta Moms® (@atlantamoms) July 17, 2017

I had so much fun signing books and meeting Bobs and Tweets fans @watchungbooks for the @Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip! pic.twitter.com/jNybcKm43c

— Pepper Springfield (@peppertheauthor) July 13, 2017

From prepping lessons and shopping for supplies to welcoming new students, the back-to-school season is a whirlwind of both excitement and stress.

To thank teachers for all their hard work year-round, Scholastic Teacher™ magazine is celebrating the new school year by hosting an annual month of daily giveaways! The Teacher team works with a variety of companies, along with other Scholastic departments, on this exciting initiative and this year, prize packs feature products from Scholastic Classroom Magazines, Newell, Bostitch, RoseArt, Five Star, Logitech, and more.

A new prize pack is announced on the Scholastic Teachers Facebook EVERY MORNING at 7 a.m. EST, and teachers have 24 hours to enter for a chance to win. So what are you waiting for? Enter now! 

As summer comes to a close, we want to remind families that independent reading time during the summer is very important to help kids get "reading ready" for the new school year.

To keep kids motivated to read during the "dog days of summer," the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is kicking-off “Minute Mania Month.” During this month-long campaign (August 8 - September 8), kids can backlog their reading minutes from the ENTIRE summer. 

"Minute Mania Month" is especially helpful for kids who have been tracking their summer reading minutes on paper or using another tracking system. Throughout Minute Mania Month, kids will have the chance to:

• Revisit past weekly logs and easily add minutes they forgot to enter over the summer. 
• Log more minutes during the last days of summer for a chance to have his or her school earn the title of "Best in State" and have his or her school be featured in the 2018 Scholastic Book of World Records. 
• Help their local public library or community organization earn special recognition as a "Top Library" or "Top Community Partner."

To learn more, visit www.scholastic.com/summer and follow the latest updates on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram #summerreading.