Glen Meadow students have author, goose visitors

In June, students in Nancy Grimaldi’s seventh-grade Language Arts classes received a visit from a feathered friend who happens to be a local celebrity and the protagonist in numerous stories. Oliver, a Sebastopol goose, and his owner, Leesa Beckmann, spent two afternoons, visiting two classes each day, to share stories. Beckmann, a published author, illustrator and award-winning photographer, sat with Ollie on her lap while she described the writing process and read from one of her children’s books. The pages are designed with a multimedia approach using Photoshop. Some of the pages, Beckmann said, are created from more than 50 photos and then arranged to create stunning visuals. Students had the opportunity to not only ask questions, but to also pet Oliver.