Walking the hallways of Manhasset’s Munsey Park Elementary School was nostalgic for Anastasia Galstian.
She attended the school as a young girl and returned on Nov. 6 to reunite with her kindergarten teacher Donna Stoerger and read her children’s book, “Annie and Chalo Go to an Armenian Picnic,” to Stoerger’s class.
It was an exciting reunion for both parties as Stoerger proudly showed her students the photo of Galstian’s class from 1998-1999.
The special visit correlated with the kindergarten class’s unit on authors and was a unique opportunity for the students to meet an author in real life.
Galstian shared her first published book “Annie and Chalo Go to an Armenian Picnic” with the students. The book, which is based on her and her dog Chalo, spotlights Galstian’s Armenian heritage.
The kindergartners learned Armenian words and culture through her story.
Afterward, Galstian spoke to the class about the process of writing a book, working with an illustrator and her future plans. She told the students that she is continuing her “Annie and Chalo” series which will feature the pair going to different countries.
Galstian plans on visiting each country that she spotlights in her books.
At the end of her visit, Galstian gifted each student an “Annie and Chalo” bookmark and she reminisced with Ms. Stoerger, who was thrilled to have her back.
“It was amazing,” said Stoerger. “Anastasia is an inspiration and a role model. For present-day kindergarten children to see her when she was in my class and then see her as a grown-up author reading her book to us was a wonderful experience for us all.”
