Gail King Gail King is originally from the small town of Piscataway, New Jersey. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese and Japanese history in 1976 from Notre Dame.

When asked why she became a media specialist after so many years in human resources, Gail King, media specialist at Killian Elementary, said she “wants to develop intellectual curiosity and encourage life–long learning.” Since teachers have always been her heroes, she could think of no better way to reach her goal than by becoming a media specialist.

She accomplished that a little more than five years ago when she came to Killian. But this is where her story begins. King strives to know each student by name and to engage them with each lesson she teaches. Her love for the written word has found a rival in a budding love for technology, and her challenge is to find ways to engage her students using both. Her lessons are peppered with podcasts and mini movies, and she teaches students and teachers how to create projects using Audacity, Photo Story, and Flip Video cameras.

No stranger to a challenge, King was among the first class of females to attend and graduate from the University of Notre Dame. Nearly 30 years later, after her own daughters finished college, she would get her masters in library and information science from the University of South Carolina.

Of the many interesting people King has met over the years, she says none have been more interesting and impressive than the children she has come to know at Killian. Many must work to shed daily struggles before donning the attitude necessary for learning each day. She feels the challenge lies in making lessons engaging, participatory, challenging, authentic, and memorable.

It is her belief that all she has done in her life, thus far, has brought her to this unique opportunity to foster the talents that will help these students reach their own goals, as well.