Bemidiji Pioneer (April 21, 2019) — Professional author Alexis O’Neill, will be visiting Blackduck Elementary School on Tuesday, April 23 as part of an enrichment grant. She will be holding two school assemblies for elementary students, meeting with students on writing. Blackduck Elementary is also hosting a Family Literacy Night for families from 5:30-7:30 p.m. that day featuring O’Neill. O’Neill is the author of The Recess Queen (Scholastic), a bully book that earned Children’s Choice nominations in 10 states and a winner in two; The Worst Best Friend (Scholastic); Estela’s Swap (Lee & Low Books), a book about generosity and a unique California experience which was honored with a diversity award by the Vermont Center for the Book and was chosen in 2005 and 2006 for the California Readers California Collection; Loud Emily (Simon & Schuster), a tall tale named to Yankee Magazine’s list of Top 100 Classic New England Children’s Books; and The Kite That Bridged Two Nations: Homan Walsh and the First Niagara Suspension Bridge (Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills Press), a work of historical fiction called “memorable and dramatic” by Kirkus Reviews. She has also written fiction and nonfiction for Cricket, Spider, Cobblestone, Calliope, Faces, Odyssey and Writer’s Digest.
A former elementary school teacher with a Ph.D. in Teacher Education from Syracuse University, O’Neill teaches writing for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and served as a Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) in the Central-Coastal region of California. Alexis has also worked as a museum educator and consultant for the Erie Canal Museum, Onondaga Historical Association, the Everson Museum of Art, the Museum of Ventura County and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She visits schools across the country, conducting interactive assemblies and workshops designed to inspire students to read, research, write and revise-and to have fun playing with words. She also uses her experiences as a teacher and presenter to advise other children’s authors on designing high quality school visit programs and though SchoolVisitExperts.com. As a literacy advocate, O’Neill established, and for several years chaired, the annual Children’s Book Week Celebration in Simi Valley for the Simi Valley Friends of the Library, providing author visit programs for over 12,000 students each year.
She currently serves on the board of the Ventura County Reading Association. The California Reading Association has honored O’Neill with the prestigious Dr. Marcus Foster Memorial Reading Award for her outstanding contributions to reading advancement in California and for her long record of achievements and constant dedication to the advancement of literacy for all children throughout the state.