Category: school visit

Thank you, Patton Middle School!

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Just finished the most amazing Skype classroom with Mr. Brian Kelley’s eighth grade class! I spoke for about half an hour and the kids asked questions for the next 15 minutes. Mr. Kelley had to cut off their questions to get them to the next class. They were thoughtful, listened so well and had tons of great questions.

Thank you, Patton Middle School in Kennett Square, PA, for hosting me! I hope to visit you again one day!

If you’d like to set up a visit via Skype visit http://www.jessicaburkhart.com and check out my contact page. You’ll find all the info you need to get started.

Happy Friday!

First NYC school visit

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I just finished my first NYC school visit. I spoke to a group of sixth graders at Pershing IS-220 and we had a fun visit. They even gave me flowers–so sweet! I ran through my Power Point and the kids asked great, engaging questions.

The best part? I didn’t spill coffee on my skirt (and I mean a LOT of coffee) until I was heading down the stairs to leave. Win!

Thanks so much to Lucia Greenberg for being a fantastic host. She took photos of the event and got releases from the students’ parents, so I’ll be able to post pics to my blog soon.

Gotta do some writing before heading into Manhattan for an appt. Happy Monday!

Scheduling author visits for fall and spring

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This is a quick note to all NY, NJ and New England teachers/librarians/Pony Club DCs:

I’m currently scheduling school, library and Pony Club visits for fall 2009 and spring 2010. There are some details on my Website, but please e-mail (jessica [at] jessicaburkhart [dot]) come for full info. I live in New York City and am willing to travel to visit your students.

Yes, I am happy to report that the PR Ninja will be suiting up again to tackle New York! Woo!

Happy summer!

My visit to Roberts Elementary School

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Today, I visited Roberts Elementary School. I did my Power Point presentation for grades 3, 4 and 5. We had so much fun and it was great despite the threatening weather.

At my last presentation, the WCTV news crew showed up. They filmed my talk and interviewed me after it was over. Thanks to WCTV for stopping by! The funniest line of the day came when they showed up with a camera.

When a girl in the front row saw the news crew, her eyes got wide and she looked at me. She said, “Oh my gosh. You even have paparazzi following you!” I explained who they were and that didn’t make her any less excited, LOL.

The kids asked a zillion smart questions and I enjoyed visiting the school. Thanks again to Bill and Erma for all of their hard work.

As I was getting ready to leave, Erma (the media center specialist) handed me an envelope. Inside, were letters that some of the kids had written to me after the presentation. So. Cute. Some of the letters encouraged me to keep buying cotton candy Lip Smackers, which I’d told them was my fave. Others had phone numbers and email addresses for me to say hi. One told me to only eat cereal from now on after I told the “I set my microwave on fire before” story. 🙂

Thank you ALL for the amazing letters and drawings. You guys rock!

First school visit to William J. Montford III Middle School

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Setting up my Power Point. That’s the awesome Kathy Drake–the media specialist.


Signing outside. It was a balmy 75 degrees. Lovely!


Signing books in the media center.


A display in the media center. I got to share the board and table with friend and author Sarah Prineas! Sarah’s visiting Montford next. I freaked out when I saw Take the Reins next to The Magic Thief. 🙂


Chatting with horse-crazy girls.


I signed that shirt. Yes, I did!

The group of kids. They were the best audience!

I just got back from my first talk/signing at William J. Montford III Middle School in Tallahassee. The coolest part? It was the school’s first author visit!

I was I’m-going-to-faint nervous before I went. But the second I got inside, it felt amazing. I asked the kids not to throw anything at me because I was nervous and we all laughed. It broke the ice and once I got started, I could have talked for hours. We talked about publishing, writing, editors, agents and sticking with it no matter how many rejections come.

One of the highlights was showing pics of my trip to S&S. I likened the board room to something out of The Apprentice, but noted that no one at S&S (thankfully) resembled Donald. I told them my editor is not a man, did not fire me (yet! ;)) and has waaay better hair than Mr. Trump.

I talked (a lot) about lip gloss and my love of pink pens. By the end, girls were showing me their fave pens and glosses. I even got invited to a spring break sleepover. So. Cute. They thought I was in high school, LOL. When I told them I was 22, they still wanted me to come. And to bring my lip gloss collection. 🙂

The excitement was insane and I almost died when kids started offering me arms and hands to sign. I felt like a rockstar! A sweet girl asked me to sign her t-shirt and I signed a hoodie for another. I asked several times if their parents were going to freak that I took a Sharpie to their clothes. They said no, but I’m worried about getting angry emails. Eeep.

I had sooo much fun at Montford. They’re a lucky school since they get to have Sarah next and I told them so.

Thanks so much to Lisa, Kathy, Bill, Mary and everyone at Montford for hosting me. Yay!

First school visit tomorrow

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Tomorrow, I’ve got my first school visit at William J. Montford III Middle School. I’ll be presenting to the school’s book club and then we’ll move outside to sign books. My friend Mary is bringing a mini horse and we’ll get to introduce the kids to the horse. It should be fun! Thanks so much to Kathy Drake for working with me.

I present at 12:30, so wish me luck. 🙂