Growing Communities for Peace

Smart Tools for Life Project Director, Julie Penshorn, and Vice-President of Growing Communities for Peace, Rebecca Janke The Compassionate Rebel: Energized by Anger, Motivated by Love, published by Growing Communities for Peace, 2002. Expanding the Circle: Teen Mentor Service Project Adult Facilitator Manual, 2000 4-H Meeting Handbook, a collabora... tive effort with the University of Minnesota Extension Service Washington County, published by the University of Minnesota Extension, 2001 Peacemakers A, B, Cs for Young Children: A guide for teaching conflict resolution with a peace table, published by Growing Communities for Peace, 1995 Message from the Director of Smart Tools for Life, Julie Penshorn, MBC Children are born into the light. As they grow up, some are wounded, traumatized, and hardened, until they are mired in the darkness of anger, loneliness, depression, and hatred. My hope is that I can contribute something valuable to the lives of young children through storybooks that inspire and provide tools for their healthy development. Childrens ability to learn suffers when their basic needs are not met. A key need is a sense of belonging in a safe community. It is only when children learn to STOP and breathe rather than act out in anger or frustration, and they can express their feelings, that all members of these communities thrive. My books provide tools for living in harmony with others, and the Earth, so children can be happier and healthier, and grow up to be the creative, insightful, resilient, and thoughtful citizens and leaders our society and communities need. Smart Tools For Life is a project of Growing Communities for Peace. It serves parents and educators by combining excellence in pedagogy with story-telling and childrens music, making it easy and engaging to bring state-of-the-art peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding skills to young children, thereby encouraging more harmonious, sustainable relationships with others and the planet. Our materials are designed to soothe the wounded, ...Read More