School Visits 

From School Visits & World Read Aloud Day

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"V.T. Bidania did an amazing job at tailoring her visit to a wide range of grade levels. She was personable, interactive, and very insightful. Her ways of engaging with young minds helped bring more insight into the Hmong culture. As a Hmong teacher myself, I was very inspired to see another strong Hmong leader helping to bring awareness to the Hmong culture." 

-Rebekah Moua, K-6 Grade Teacher, Chippewa Valley Montessori School, Eau Claire, WI

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"V.T. Bidania did a virtual author visit with my second and third grade students and it was the best author visit I have ever experienced. Not only was V.T. Bidania's visit fun and engaging but she taught a lot of new things to my scholars. The scholars will not stop talking about the Hmong words she taught, and they are so excited to tell their families that they learned several Hmong words. As a teacher, I appreciate the connections V.T. Bidania made to writing and feelings/emotions. The kids cannot wait to read the rest of the books in the series now, and they are even more excited for the new books coming out this fall. I highly recommend V.T. Bidania and I am looking forward to future visits with her!" 

-Ashlee Kolles, 2nd/3rd Grade Teacher, Barack and Michelle Obama Elementary, St. Paul, MN

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"It was incredible to watch our 4th and 2nd graders' faces light up with smiles as V.T. Bidania read out loud. One of my students wrote in the Zoom chat,'This book is the only thing I want for my birthday, nothing else.' And another student replied, 'Me too!' My students were excited when they heard where V.T. Bidania was born, sharing,'My mom was born in Laos, too!' This was a rare and amazing way to connect and mirror books with our students' life experiences." 

-Mara Christensen, 4th Grade Teacher, College Prep Elementary, St. Paul, MN

 

"I loved our author visit from V.T. Bidania! Even though it was an online presentation because of COVID, she did a wonderful job of keeping the students engaged. The presentation was extremely personable as she had her own materials versus just doing a PowerPoint. We were able to see and interact with her personally instead of listening and staring at a screen. The kids really enjoyed meeting with her and had many questions to ask, which she answered flawlessly. I would highly recommend a visit from her!"

-Abygail Stivason, 1st Grade Teacher, Rolling Valley Elementary, Springfield, VA

 

"Our school truly enjoyed our visit with V. T. Bidania. Engaging students both in the classroom and virtually is a challenge for an author visit but Bidania did a tremendous job. The kids loved discussing the Astrid and Apollo books, learning Hmong words, playing a fun game, and asking questions. I hope that when we are able to have physical visits Bidania will be able to come and visit with our students in person."

-Lauren Cottrell, Media Specialist, Lakeshore Elementary, Eau Claire, WI

 

"Finding an engaging early chapter book author who can share not only her writing story, but her personal story as well, was fantastic. My Hmong students were able to see themselves in an author and characters and make connections like never before. I loved seeing the excited faces as students connected to details from the story and all of her books are now checked out of our library!"

-Samantha Reynolds, Librarian, Rolling Valley Elementary, Springfield, VA

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