Husband and wife, author and illustrator, Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson will visit Kent School on October 5 as part of the School’s 2016 KudnerLeyon Visiting Writers Program. Behr and Swanson will do workshops with all students at Kent School from Preschool through Grade 8. Their schedule also includes a hands-on workshop with students in third through fifth grade in which the students will make their own books. Students from Friendship Montessori and Radcliffe Creek School have also been invited to attend the 2016 program.
According to their website, “Robbi Behr is an illustrator/print maker/commercial salmon fisherwoman who earned a BA from Williams College and an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Matthew Swanson is a writer/art director/blues harmonica player who has so far failed in every attempt to be swashbuckling. He managed to secure a BA from Williams. We run three small presses that live at the intersection of words, pictures and paper. Bobbledy Books is a picture book and music club for kids, delivering fun and inspiring content eight times a year in the US mail. From playful picture books to drawing and writing prompts to a yearly album of off-the-wall children’s tunes, Bobbledy content aims to celebrate the fun of reading, writing, and plain old imagining.”
Kent School’s Head of School Nancy Mugele said, “We are deeply grateful to the Kudner and Leyon families and their friends for establishing this endowment to share the literary arts with our students. Hosting Robbi and Matthew will be a perfect opportunity for our students and visitors, for we, too, are committed to celebrating ‘the fun of reading, writing and plain old imagining.’”
Each year, Kent School hosts an acclaimed visiting author as part of the school’s endowed KudnerLeyon Visiting Writers Program. Behr and Swanson join a long list of acclaimed visiting writers including Margie Pallatini, Nick Bruell, Priscilla Cummings, Wendy Mass, Jack Gantos and Mary Downing Hahn. Kent School’s program began in 2000 as a memorial to two alumni, Ariana Kudner ‘91 and Amanda Leyon ‘91 who lost their lives in a car accident. Program founder, Chris McClary, a classmate of Ariana and Amanda said, “The endowed KudnerLeyon Visiting Writers program is a fitting tribute to both girls who shared a love of books, writing and literature. I know that they would be pleased that we are offering such a high quality program to our students and students from other area schools who attend.” The program is funded through the generosity of individuals and through a grant from the Arthur Kudner Fund of the Mid-Shore Community Foundation.
For more information about Kent School or the endowed KudnerLeyon Visiting Writers Program visit www.kentschool.org or call 410-778-4100 ext. 110. Kent School, located in historic Chestertown, MD is an independent day school serving girls and boys from Preschool through Grade 8. The School’s mission is to guide our students in realizing their potential for academic, artistic, athletic, and moral excellence. Our school’s family-oriented, supportive, student-centered environment fosters the growth of honorable, responsible citizens for our country and our diverse world.
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