Conversations with Authors
Using Skype to Make Connections
About the Author
Paul is a writer, journalist, and teacher living in New York City. From 1992 to 1998, he taught incarcerated teens on Rikers Island to read and write. That experience formed the basis of his ALA award-winning novels Black and White and Rikers High. From 1999 to 2005, Paul taught teens in drug treatment programs, inspiring his ALA award-winning novel Rooftop.
from Paul Volponi Books
Skypin' with Volponi
Recently, we hosted a great Skype
session with popular young adult fiction author Paul Volponi! Final Four, one
of Mr. Volponi’s novels, is also one of the South
Carolina Young Adult Book Award nominees for 2013-2014.
First, I must say that I absolutely
adore this down to earth, laid-back, super cool author! When I first emailed Mr. Volponi a few months ago to schedule a Skype session at Mauldin High School, within minutes the phone in my office began to ring.
“Mauldin Media Center….”
“Heyyyyy Stacy!
It’s Paul!”
“…Paul....?”
“Paul Volponi!”
Wow! Talk
about fast and personal service!
Mr. Volponi stayed in contact with me until our
scheduled day. I was nervous about the web
cam and microphone set up because our school (snow, snow, snow) had been closed
for days - right up until 1 day before the Skype
session was scheduled.
Paul was great
about giving me time the day before in order to test our equipment and ensure
the next day would be a success. And it
was! Paul Volponi is one of a kind. He extended an invitation for our students to
mail to his home address one page of their writing for him to read and offer
feedback. During the session, our students were able to ask Mr. Volponi
questions about anything.
Mr. Volponi has a great sense of humor and
definitely knows teens! At first, our
students seemed shy and nervous. Before
long, though, they felt as comfortable chatting with Paul Volponi as I had. Mr. Volponi joked with our students and really
knew how to get on their level so to speak.
Mr. Volponi did talk about his books, but his main focus was on our
group and the students themselves. He encouraged our students to set goals for themselves and to dream big!
Skype author sessions are a great way for
schools with limited budgets to host a virtual author visit. This is definitely worth doing, and I know
the students who were able to participate left our media center smiling,
laughing, and talking about their experience with their friends and family.
Interested teachers and librarians can contact Paul at pavolpo@cs.com to
arrange a visit with their students!
Limited funding? Try
the Author Skype Network! Many others are free or charge an inexpensive fee. For a list of FREE Author Skype sessions, try blogger Kate
Messner’s site!
Skype an author – give it a try!
