MKA Book Fair Delivers Out of This World Results!

Amidst a galaxy of books and visits from some stars of children's literature, reading for pleasure returned to people's lives for a few precious days as PAMKA's 2011 Book Fair proved without a doubt that "Reading is Out of This World!" Despite having to organize the country's largest Scholastic Book Fair in the midst of "otherworldly" weather conditions, Tri-Campus Chairs Jamie Gorodensky, Sam Kaplan and Claire Wilks, together with their team of over 100 parent volunteers and with the support of Scholastic's Judy Newman MacGregor and Carol Levine, created a truly stellar event that resulted in over $100,000 worth of book sales.

All three campuses were transformed into "Out of This World" bookstores, complete with a Middle School reading nook that featured a lunar landscape complete with a giant crescent moon. Favorite Book Fair events including the Faculty Tea, Ice Cream Sundae Sunday, Pajama Night at the Primary School and the tradition of inviting sixth grade visitors from TEAM Academy continued to be popular, and once again, some of the biggest names in children's literature came to campus. Primary School students were treated to presentations from Peter Reynolds (Ish and Dot), Derek Anderson (Happy Birthday Hamster) and Doreen Cronin (Click Clack Moo), Middle School students enjoyed R.L. Stine (Goosebumps), Brandon Mull (The Beyonders) and Harlan Coben (Shelter), Upper School students saw Sarah Culberson (A Princess Found) and not to be left out, parents heard from New York Times "A Good Appetite" columnist and food writer Melissa Clark at an elegant lunch at Highlawn Pavilion.

In a thank-you note to the event chairs, fourth grade teacher Susan FitzGibbon perhaps captured the essence and purpose of the PAMKA Book Fair most eloquently: "You arrive early, come in shifts, stay late, arrange car pools and play-dates, eat on the run and generate a totally unbeatable buzz for reading and writing in a school community. My students literally beg for more class time to read their new treasures, and I know their reading legs will suddenly swell with a manifold increase for the next several weeks." Mission accomplished!

Click here to see photos from the event.