Back to School: Painting for Peace in Ferguson creates curriculum guides for teachers

ST. LOUIS - Aug. 13, 2015 - PRLog -- It's back to school for students across Ferguson, Missouri and the United States. Teachers are faced with several hurdles, and during hard times, they face several more, including ways to discuss unrest children may feel within their own community or from what they see and hear through the media. Painting for Peace in Ferguson (http://www.paintingforpeacebook.com/), a children's book about hope written in the aftermath of the riots in Ferguson in the late fall of 2014, has several resources available on its website to help teachers and parents open up supportive conversations. The author of the book recently teamed with a grade school teacher to create a core curriculum aligned teacher's guide based on the story in the book for students grade K-2 (http://www.paintingforpeacebook.com/#!k-2-curriculum-guide/cc0r) and 3-5 (http://www.paintingforpeacebook.com/#!grade-3-5-curriculum-guide/c13xf).

Despite parents' best efforts to protect children from today's harsh realities, most children still learn about current issues and the majority of time if it's not discussed, they have hard times understanding and expressing their feelings.

Several other resources (http://www.paintingforpeacebook.com/#!resources/c8jp) exist on the book's website to help parents and teacher talk to youth about civil unrest, tolerance, answering hard questions and more.

Susan Shelton, a retired elementary teacher who now substitutes in the St. Louis region, said "I've read Painting for Peace [in Ferguson] to high school students, sparking a conversation about the different experiences of students in that district versus those in North County. They were able to ask questions they might not have asked otherwise, and gained an understanding for the different experiences of students elsewhere."

“Teachers and educators embraced this book as soon as it came out and immediately began using it in their classrooms,” said Carol Swartout Klein, author of Painting for Peace in Ferguson. “From the beginning, this book has been a tool for opening dialogues with people of all ages and backgrounds.”

Klein added “With the recent national distribution of Painting for Peace in Ferguson, I hope that we can get it into more teacher's classrooms, school libraries and the hands of parents across the country to help children understand that during hard times, there are ways for all ages to help.”

Background on Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Since its February 2015 release, Painting for Peace in Ferguson has gained prestigious national recognition. It is the 2015 selection to represent Missouri at Library of Congress NationalBook Festival (http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/) in Washington D.C. on Saturday, September 5. It also won the IndependentPublisher's (http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1938) (IPPY) 2015 Outstanding Book of the Year Award Gold Medal, one of only nine selected out of 6,000 applicants. As Kid Lit Reviews (http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2015/07/16/716-painting-for-peace-in-ferguson-by-carol-swartout-klein/) stated "Painting for Peace in Ferguson is a picture book like no other and belongs on the collective landscape for years to come as a reminder that communities need not implode in anger and grief."

Written in child-friendly verse, the book features images of the actual artwork that was painted on hundreds of boarded up windows in Ferguson and surrounding areas and the South Grand street in St. Louis City in November, 2014. The art ranges from childlike messages of hope and peace to provocative works calling for social change.

The book's simple, but powerful message, as told by Klein, is that when people reach out to each other across lines that divide us and work together, remarkable things can happen. A single paintbrush cannot make much change – but hundreds working together can transform a landscape. Painting for Peace in Ferguson shares the basic idea that anyone, at any age has a talent that they can contribute to help others. Although the muraled plywood boards have come down off the windows, this book will forever captures this moment of goodwill and community outreach and the compelling works of art that were the result.

The book retails for $15.95 for the paperback and $25.95 for the hardback. All profits from the book will benefit youth and economic recovery programs in Ferguson and surrounding areas.

About the author

Carol Swartout Klein grew up in Ferguson and was so inspired by witnessing the spirit of hundreds of volunteers coming together to bring hope to a community in shock that she wanted to capture the story and Painting for Peace in Ferguson is the result. A journalist and marketing professional by training, Klein has always wanted to write a children’s book. She saw how healing the actual process of creating the artwork was for all those involved … as the community came together to help others, the artists, business owners and volunteers benefited themselves … and created new connections that she hopes will continue to strengthen in the future.