Attiana’s Journey

Vanessa Jones, Author, Playwright, Youth Motivational Speaker, Entertainer, Literacy Volunteer Tutor +ESL Instructor and Founder of Encourage Friends Club. Vanessa is a self-published author and member of the SCBWI: Mid Atlantic Society of Children's Book writers and Illustrators. She is an advocate against bullying and the creator of the "Stop Bullying in its Tracks" campaign. Her passion for this cause, which stems from personal experiences as well as the accounts of others, has inspired her to start the Encourage Friends Club. EFC is a youth group that teaches friendship building and encourages self-esteem, empathy, service to humanity and awareness of the dangers of bullying. Mrs. Jones focuses on teaching kindness, respect and equality and is a big advocate for public libraries and the importance of reading. She is a member of the (FOL) Rustburg Friends of the Public Library, a group which helps secure funding for library events and activities through fundraising. She reached out to become a Literacy Volunteer and has now taught many English as a Second Language (ESL) students to speak and read English, more proficiently. Preventing bullying whether, physical, verbal or through social media is a difficult task, but Mrs. Jones feels this can be done by providing activities focused on education, entertainment and the arts while teaching youth acceptance of other's differences and how to become team players. Her ultimate mission is to help young people navigate their way to adulthood while staying focused and remaining mindful of their actions and the effect on the world around them. Her motto, having been a Cosmetologist in the beauty field is "We should work hard to be as beautiful on the inside as the outside and the world would be a much better place." To learn more: Visit her website at: https: //encouragefriends.com, email info@encouragefriends.com Or, visit her on facebook: https: //facebook.com/stopbullyinginitstracks Or, twitter: @encouragefriend