Teacher/Librarian Testimonials:
“Our day with Alicia was energizing, inspirational, impactful, and FUN!! Her love of information and research was truly contagious as she comfortably interacted with students from Junior Kindergarten – 5th grade. She went out of her way to customize her presentations to correspond with our students’ current research topics and gave us fascinating glimpses of her experiences as a professional nonfiction writer. Alicia’s authentic examples of real world research in action (she has to cite her sources too!) provided a model that we were able to return to with our students again and again throughout the rest of the school year. This was a truly memorable and meaningful day for us all!”
Jennifer Hogenboom, Librarian
Savannah Country Day School
Savannah, Georgia
“Alicia Klepeis spent the day at our school with four different grade level groupings from Pre-K to fifth grade. Alicia went above and beyond to create presentations that were relevant, interesting, and exciting for all our students. She had our youngest students up on their feet dancing like Blue Footed Boobies. Our older grades were fascinated by how kids their age live, learn and have fun in other parts of the world, and loved engaging with Alicia to ask lots of questions. Alicia mixed projected pictures, sound clips, and videos with tangible artifacts and stories from her travels and writing experiences. Her educator background also made her incredible at managing her audience and intuitively knowing how to keep everyone engaged and involved. Alicia was extremely communicative, and her passion for her work was clearly evident. Our students and teachers are still talking about her visit!”
Rachael Miller, PTA Vice President
Elden Elementary School, Baldwinsville, NY
“Alicia Klepeis spent a week in Auburn, visiting all five elementary schools in our district. Students and staff alike agreed that she was one of our best visiting authors yet! Alicia presented to grades K-6, seamlessly adapting programs to her audience. She was also very flexible and willing to customize presentations based on each school’s needs. Alicia delighted and educated all with interesting facts about animals, stories of her worldly travels, and tips on how to become a better writer. She is friendly, genuine, easy-going, and fun. We were fortunate to have her! Kids are still asking for Alicia Klepeis books months later!”
Penny Pitman, Librarian
Casey Park Elementary School, Auburn, NY
“We have had the pleasure of working with Alicia twice at my school ~ once live (pre-pandemic!), and once virtual – and both times the students and staff LOVED her programs! Alicia has done an amazing job meeting the challenges of virtual presentations. We worked with her to custom design 3 virtual programs at my school, one for K-1, one for grades 2-3, and one for grades 4-5. She was incredibly interactive, and had the kids stop to do movement breaks and writing activities. Teachers showed the presentation on their digital displays (SmartBoards & Promethean Boards) to in-person students, while remote learners logged in individually. She is so professional and so fun – I highly recommend her!”
Linda Fecura, Librarian
Gardner Dickinson Elementary School, Wynantskill, NY
“The whole school loved our week with Alicia Klepeis. She was warm, engaging and funny! Our teachers were really impressed with her ability to connect with every grade level in our building K-5 and how easily she moved from working with small groups to giving whole grade level (100+ students) presentations. She also did a great job of talking about the process of writing non-fiction and the research that goes into it. We’d invite her back for sure!”
Brendan Fallon, School Librarian
Ellicott Road Elementary School, Orchard Park, NY
Administrator Testimonials:
“This was one of the best author visits we have experienced. Many of our teachers shared how much they learned, how engaged both they and their students were, and how relevant the content was. Students left excited about nonfiction and the writing process, and gained powerful messages about persistence, resilience, and the importance of hard work. Your presentations were clearly meaningful and memorable. We look forward to welcoming you back soon.”
Alison Porcelli, Supervisor of Elementary Education
Harrison Central School District; Harrison, NY
“Alicia visited our school and worked with our third, sixth, and seventh graders. Regardless of the grade-level or topic, Alicia will not disappoint. Not only did she command student interest through her introduction of food throughout the world, but her demeanor and energy were contagious! Her flexibility was most evident in her ability to command student attention/willingness to try diverse foods, following by switching gears and working with seventh grade students in the art of biography. She is a ‘must have’ in your arts in education program line-up!”
Dr. Thomas Reardon, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools
Wynantskill Union Free School District, Troy, NY
Student Comments:
“Thank you for taking time off to come and talk to us about your books. I can’t wait for all your new books to come out. When I grow up I want to be a lot of things, but now I can add writer to the top.” – Allie P.
“You taught me a truck load of stuff. You have a very cool career. You get to study different cultures and get to go to awesome places. My favorite thing I learned was that in order to succeed in the writing business, you need to revise and have patience.” – Dylan R.
“I liked when you said, ‘being an adult doesn’t have to be boring.’ Now I have a choice on what my career could be.” – Ben S.
“I think it’s cool that we do similar things in our classroom that you do as a writer. I think your career is awesome, because of all the opportunities you get.” — Juliana
