This past Tuesday, Montessori Center School’s Upper Elementary students (grades 4 through 6) received a special visit from local children’s author Lee Wardlaw.

Wardlaw is a Santa Barbara native and a highly celebrated author of more than 25 books, including the wildly popular series 101 Ways to Bug Your … .

MCS students began preparation for her visit in November, reading several of her works and discussing her stories with library staff.

The visit consisted of an introduction by Wardlaw and culminated with a question-and-answer session where the students were given the opportunity to ask her well thought-out questions in an intimate classroom setting.

“Santa Barbara is so fortunate to have such an abundance of authors living in our community. We believe that exposing our students to these authors and bringing them to our campus is so valuable in not only encouraging reading but also to helping children realize the creative and intellectual process of writing. It makes it really special when the author is present and standing before them. It’s the ultimate culmination,” said Patricia Colby, MCS head of school. “There is a very active culture of reading at our school and this type of experience only inspires our children to love reading even more.”

Montessori Center School, located on Fairview Avenue in Goleta, has provided students ages 18 months through 12 years old with creative and compelling education in a supportive, nurturing environment since 1965.

MCS implements the internationally renowned Montessori Method of teaching and works to ensure that the school flourishes for today’s children and for generations to come.

— Alyssa Morris is the admissions director for Montessori Center School.