The idea for this grant was not on my "radar" when school began, but has already made an impact as I forge into the second quarter of school in my twenty-fifth year in education. 

My first idea for this grant came from a new student looking for books by Julia Cook in the library.  I had to tell her no that day in August since our library did not have any available, but a seed was planted.  My second "seed" came from a JCPS employee speaking to parents in September emphasizing that some students may not know socially appropriate skills and that is carrying over into the school setting which is effecting student behavior. One of our major roles today is teaching social skills at school.  Those must be accomplished and practiced before additional learning can take place.  After those two "seeds" were planted, I decided to do some research to see if books by Julia Cook could possibly teach and bridge that gap.  Could her books teach social skills or topics that are sometimes tough to teach?  I found my answer was YES!    

Julia Cook has over a million book in print today.  She is a former school counselor and teacher plus a national award-winning children's author, parenting expert and inspirational speaker. "There are so many ideas out there that need to be shared!" says Julia who takes top research and creatively translates it into "kid language" that is both entertaining and engaging.  Julia has the gift and ability to enter the world view of a child through storybooks, giving them the skills of "what to say" and the "how to say it". Her books tackle subjects such as tattling, bullying, personal space, video game addiction, digital citzenship, interrupting, divorce, anger, responsibility, and personal safety.  

I would like to purchase books by Julia Cook for our school library.  The topics that she writes about are beneficial for students, teachers and parents.  Julia has honed her craft as an author to discuss difficult situations and put them into kid language that make it fun to learn.  She is teaching thousands of people (students, parents and teachers) and helping them learn effective problem-solving skills that will last a lifetime!

The final reason I would like to purchase books by Julia Cook is that she will be coming to JCPS on May 11.  I have been able to arrange for Julia Cook to come for an author visit for multiple schools.  She will be visiting with students during the day and will also be doing a evening presentation at Miller Performing Arts Center for parents of students that receive Reading Recovery services.  

This link will list the titles by Julia Cook: http://www.juliacookonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/titles_and_topics.pdf

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