East Grand Rapids — A student walks into the library and learning commons area at East Grand Rapids Middle School, and Carol Dills’ voice is the one that greets them.
“Looking for something in particular?” Dills asks.
The student, a sixth-grader, relays the limited information she has about the book she’s seeking.
“It has, like, an octopus on it,” the student says.
It’s not a ton of information to go on, but it’s more than enough for Dills, who knows just what the student is looking for — it’s “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt, she says, and she helps the grateful student track down the text.
Support Superstars
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The start of the school year is a busy time for Dills, the middle school learning commons coordinator. She’s got books to order and scan, shelves to stock, and a sixth-grade reading activity to help coordinate, but she’s doing it all with a spring in her step and an extra little boost of confidence.
‘I really just like helping people, and I have a multitude of opportunities to do that every day in the learning commons. That’s why I love my job.’
— learning commons Coordinator Carol Dills
And why is that? Because Dills was named East’s Support Staff Member of the Year during the district’s all-staff meeting in August.
“I was very overwhelmed. Very surprised, very overwhelmed. It was truly an honor,” Dills says of receiving the award. “The recognition was just very validating.”
For Dills, who prides herself on really seeing students for who they are, it’s “a real blessing” to know that “people see me too.”
‘She is a lifesaver’
A technical writer by education and trade and parent of four, Dills has been overseeing the middle school’s learning commons for almost a decade. She started in a part-time capacity in 2017 before transitioning into the full-time coordinator role two years later.
Her job involves ordering new books, checking out and keeping track of books and computers, helping manage the resources in the middle school’s seven classroom libraries, working with teachers to coordinate learning commons events, writing library grants and supervising a team of about five volunteers.
Rachel Ries, a sixth- and seventh-grade English teacher at EGRMS, was one of several teachers to nominate Dills for the district-wide honor. She’s known the learning commons coordinator for 20-plus years, first as a parent, then as a colleague.
Ries said that for Dills, work doesn’t end when the day wraps up. Dills takes the job home with her, always thinking about the needs of the students.
“Carol spends her free time browsing used book sales at libraries to acquire the titles our classrooms need and the books students want to read,” Ries said, adding that Dills is deeply appreciated by students and staff alike.
“She is a lifesaver when it comes to providing Chromebook chargers for students, she provides a quiet working space for students that are easily overwhelmed by the typical noise in a classroom, and she even reads aloud tests for students that benefit from that accommodation.”
In her nominating statement, Ries described Dills as the “backbone” of daily operations at the middle school — a wearer of multiple hats who puts her all into supporting students and staff.
“We simply could not do our jobs as effectively without her knowledge, dedication and support,” Ries wrote.
She ‘makes the day brighter’
Dills said her journey to this role was “very organic.”
In 2011 she started volunteering with the high school’s Leadership and Youth Development program. She also volunteered in the high school learning commons, where she became so well-versed in day-to-day operations that she was a natural fit when the middle school position became available.
For Dills, who describes herself as a “jack of all trades,” the job is ideal.
“I like to think of myself as a firefighter, because my personality just doesn’t mind going from one thing to the next,” she said. “It works well. I like to have a variety. This job has a lot of variety. There’s no two days that are the same.”
She said one of her favorite parts of the job is getting to know students and teachers, and helping them find what they’re looking for.
“I have a multitude of opportunities to do that every day in the learning commons,” she said. “That’s why I love my job.”
And the students love having her around. Just ask eighth-grader Quinn Freudigmann, who said Dills’ presence “just makes the day brighter.”
“She has a very bright smile and it’s great to see her when she’s walking into our English classrooms, delivering books,” Quinn said. “She’s just a great person to be around, and very kind.”
Ninth-grader Wynn Stein agreed.
“Mrs. Dills is one of the best support staff that I know,” he said.
Read more from East Grand Rapids:
• Her purpose: make ‘pivotal’ early childhood years the best they can be
• Work is underway on bond-funded high school transformation project
