On Nov. 3 and 4 the students at the Jewish Academy of Orlando had the privilege to welcome children's author Brad Herzog to the school. Herzog has a handful of honors and awards over the years while writing hundreds of newspaper articles, magazine features, columns, short stories, poems, children's fiction and non-fiction, screenplays, sports tomes and travel narratives, and also co-authored the book "My Mantelpiece: A Memoir of Survival and Social Justice" with Carolyn Goodman. Herzog recently spoke at the Jewish Community Relations Council's Bagels and Grits Brunch about the Civil Rights movement. He visited with all K – eighth-grage students and conducted workshops for grades 5-8. In the workshops, Herzog guided the students in writing an alphabet poem book. When published, the book will contain 26 poems from A to Z about Jewish Academy of Orlando.

The students had an opportunity to interact with Herzog and ask him questions about his chosen profession. Many students walked away saying "I want to be an author when I grow up" or "I want to write a book!" Students also had an opportunity to purchase his books and receive a personalized autographed copy from the author.

Thank you to the Homburger Jacobs Family for sponsoring Herzog's visit.

For more information or to arrange a visit to the school, please contact Alan Rusonik, Head of School, at arusonik@myjao.org or 407-647-0713.