Voices in the Hall (Paperback)

Latoya was molested by her mother’s boyfriend when she was eight years old. Chungo’s uncle was shot four times in the head in a gang turf war. Ashley was dragged off school grounds in handcuffs and shackles. Sandy finds out she is pregnant, but is so ashamed, she conceals it for four months while attending school daily. Welcome to the world of today’s troubled teenagers. Florida’s Sun Sentinel Newspaper calls "Voices in the Hall", “a book-in-progress of surprising depth, complexity and heart.”"Voices in the Hall" is a riveting and compelling account of kids in our school system, as told to the one adult who will listen to them: their teacher. As students in an at-risk Drop-Out Prevention class in an urban school, they speak out freely through hand written journals they write in class, telling their stories to the one person they grow to trust over time, and who will do as much as she can to protect their secrets and guide them through a maze of personal, social, school, and legal issues, which at times seem more than any adolescent can bear.

Terry Preuss, NBCT, is a career educator who has been teaching children and adults from around the globe for over two decades. Presently a middle school teacher, she also conducts motivational, and writing workshops nationally. With a vast and varied teaching history, her insight into the condition of today's youth reveals a struggle and willingness to reach every child and to inspire other educators to do the same. Her organization, ABC+LOVE (It's About Brotherhood, Compassion +LOVE), is dedicated to sharing the stories of troubled and at-risk youth in an effort to raise awareness and improve the quality of education for all students, globally. Through her proven effectiveness and dedication to students, she has received every accolade possible within the teaching profession: Grant Recipient, Teacher of the Year, Hispanic Teacher of the Year, Highly Qualified Teacher, Mentor Teacher, Lead Teacher, Department Head, School Based Management Decision Making Cadre Chair, Teacher Consultant, and National Board Certified Teacher. Presently she uses her expertise, knowledge, and experiences to reach a broader audience by writing about, speaking on and advocating for student and parent concerns. Through her present appointment on her School Board's District Advisory Council (DAC), she intends to initiate positive changes to benefit student, parent, and teacher relations. Her goal is to raise the bar of education creating a reality where student friendly teaching thrives in every classroom and brings about high achievement and high expectations, hand in hand with high self-esteem. Terry is also a two time literary award winning author, recognized by The Miami Herald's Tropic Magazine for her personal narrative, A Helping Hand, about discovering her mother's aristocratic past in pre-Castro Cuba, and Florida International University's Josephine Friedman Award for Short Fiction for her story, Cat Soup. She uses her work and her passion for writing to engage students of all ages in the reading and writing adventure, achieving notably high standardized writing scores at her own school, and students who discover their voice by putting pen to paper in her workshops nationally.