S H O RT STU FF JEFFCO Schools and Libraries Team Up to Offer More E-books and E-audiobooks The Jefferson County Board of Education, Homewood City Schools, Hoover City Schools and public libraries in Jefferson County formed an innovative new partnership using e-books and e-audiobooks to modernize and increase access to reading materials for students. This unique collaboration provides unprecedented access to both the schools’ and the libraries’ digital reading resources in one app. The partnership provides safe access to thousands of age-appropriate titles for students’ use inside the classroom, at home and anywhere 24/7. Through the Sora app, school system students can borrow the school’s collection of classroom and pleasure reading, and also access public libraries’ juvenile and young adult digital collection. The Sora app was named one of TIME magazine’s Best Inventions 2019. The entire Jefferson County community can access public libraries in Jefferson County’s complete ebook and e-audiobook collection through the award-winning Libby app. Readers can use Libby on any major device or computer. Both reading apps are built by OverDrive and OverDrive Education. To learn more, visit https://meet.soraapp.com/ and https://meet. libbyapp.com/.
10 of the Best New Year Resolutions for High School Students It's 2020! A new year, a new decade! International College Counselors has a few suggestions which can launch you into a strong college trajectory.
1 Commit to getting good grades. You've been working hard to get to this point for 10-plus years. If you have lower grades than you’d like, improve them. An upward grade trend can make a big difference in college admissions. 2 Stop procrastinating. We're not sure we can tell you anything new about this that you haven't already heard. 3 Don't do it all. Concentrate on a few things and excel in them. Anyone can join 10 clubs and be slightly involved in them all. Schools are looking for passionate people who show willingness to stick with something and who make an impact. 4 Stay organized. Keep a calendar. Deadlines creep up quickly. Colleges, scholarships, federal aid and standardized testing services are not sympathetic to excuses about missing a deadline. 5 Take standardized tests early. Wait too long and there won't be enough time to retake the test. Many unexpected things can affect test scores on any given day, including anxiety, health issues, and harshly curved tests. Taking the test early will also allow time to take a test prep course, if needed. 6 Do the research. Know what the choices are when it comes to colleges. Research can be as simple as visiting 8 | birminghamparent | february 2020
