SCHOOL VISITS: 2 - 8
Yolanda draws on her own education experience to bring excitement to her interactive, multidimensional author visits. For younger, smaller audiences she has a presentation called "no more rules" which includes a fun true/false quiz about wacky laws. For older students and larger audiences, she has a multi-media presentation that takes a "choose your own adventure" approach to discussing the writing and publishing process. Yolanda is also available for workshops and loves answering questions from students of all ages. Yolanda is an Eco-Book of the Month co-Director for Authors for Earth Day.

Year(s) of participation: 2013, 2017

A4ED school visit photos & blurbs:

2017

ROSSLAND SUMMIT SCHOOL in Rossland, British Columbia, Canada

YOLANDA GIVES KIDS A CHOICE AT ROSSLAND

On April 20th I met with the fourth and fifth graders at Rosssland Summit School. In celebration of my third middle grade novel coming out in the fall, I conducted a workshop called The Magic of Three. Keeping with the theme, I asked the students to vote between three environmental organizations: the West Kootenay Ecosociety, the David Suzuki Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund. They chose the World Wildlife Fund! In their honor, I will be donating $250 to WWF-Canada. The cost of my author appearance was covered by a Creative Spark Art Starts in the Class Columbia Basin Trust Grant. My thanks to Authors for Earth Day, Creative Spark and Rossland Summit School for it possible for me to participate this year!

Yolanda's event was covered by the local paper, Rossland News.

Photo Credit: Chelsea Novak

2013

MACLEAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL at Rossland Public Library, in Rossland, BC, Canada

YOLANDA CELEBRATES EARTH DAY WITH MACLEAN AT ROSSLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY

Grade three and four students from MacLean Elementary School walked down to the Rossland Public Library to attend my first Authors for Earth Day visit. Luckily, it was a sunny April morning! We talked a bit about rules - the fair ones, the unfair ones, and the totally crazy ones - with special emphasis on rules designed to help protect the environment. Some students were surprised to learn that many places have rules against tree climbing; sometimes for the protection of the climber and sometimes for protection of the tree! We read a chapter from my first middle grade novel, "Trouble in the Trees" and staged a mach protest against the tree climbing bylaw that is the subject of the book.

Students were encouraged to make noise and boy, did they deliver! Has there ever been a rule more fun to break that no yelling in the library? When the chants of "Pro-Test!" and "No More Rules" and "No Trees, No Bath" finally died down, we talked about the writing process and how books get published. Then it was time to reveal the voting results! The students choose WILDSIGHT, a local organization dedicated to animals, habitat, and environmental education, as the recipient of my author fee donation.

Many thanks to the students and teachers at MacLean, the Rossland Library, and A4ED for making my first Authors for Earth Day visit such a success!

Photo Credit: Chelsea Novak