This may look like an elementary school classroom, but for the past few months, it's actually been a bustling publishing company. Really! Take a look inside.

Under the guidance of their teacher, Donald Stahl, more than two dozen authors at Lehigh Parkway Elementary School have been hard at work. These third, fourth, and fifth-grade students experienced every step of the publishing process, from story development and illustration through editing, design, and layout.

The idea behind this project was to show the kids that there's more to writing than just completing an assignment and getting a grade. Writing is an exchange of ideas between authors and readers. And by publishing a finished hardcover copy of their story, the students gain a real sense of purpose for their work.

That last part is where Dan's comes in. Using our software and printing technology, we partnered with the school to produce these original books. Students used our online ordering system to work on their projects, so they could save their progress and log in to work on them each week.

We also loaned them Olympus cameras to help them create illustrations, and produced custom book jackets and "meet the author" signs for each book project. Those signs were important, too. Once the deadlines were met and the books were sent to Dan's for production, all that was left for the kids was to wait for their big event: Meet the Author Night at Barnes & Noble!

The authors got to show off their work to a huge crowd, greeting their fans and signing autographs. WFMZ was even there to cover the event for the news!

Later in the evening, each student had the opportunity to share their story in a reading for the audience.

We couldn't have been more pleased with how the whole project came together, and we're absolutely delighted to have been a part of it. The creativity and excitement shown by these student has been inspiring. It was wonderful to see them so proud of the work they've done, not to mention the outpouring of support they received from the community.