South Orange MS Kids Meet J. K. Rowling, Virtually

Avid Harry Potter fans and aspiring authors, disguised as Muggle-born middle school students, gathered in the South Orange Middle School library for a Virtual Author Visit with J.K Rowling live from Edinburgh Scotland.

South Orange Middle School Librarian Elissa Malespina organized the event for more than 40 sixth and seventh graders.  "As part of the Harry Potter reading club, Scholastic sponsored a Virtual Author Visit with J.K Rowling live from Edinburgh Scotland," she explains. Students came with their English classes "to listen to the Harry Potter author speak about her inspirations, her writing techniques and also hear her read an excerpt from one of her books."

Malespina was able to project the author's image at the same time the students heard Rowling speak. "For over 50 minutes the students watched this world-wide event on the Library's Smartboard," says Malespina. "The students and staff who participated loved being able to gain a better understand of not only the writing process but also about the wonderful world of Harry Potter that they all grew up reading."

Want more J. K. Rowling? Stay tuned: Patch will have a report of the author's one and only North American visit. Rowling will be at Lincoln Center on Tuesday night and Patch will be there!