“The lives of the girls and women featured in these stories are rendered with tremendous warmth, humor, and care . . . a wonderful debut.” —Jamel Brinkley, author of A Lucky Man In her debut short story collection, Camille Acker unleashes the irony and tragic comedy of respectability onto a wide-ranging cast of characters, all of whom call Washington, DC, home. A “woke” millennial tries to fight gentrification, only to learn she’s part of the problem; a grade school teacher dreams of a better DC, only to take out her frustrations on her students; and a young piano player wins a competition, only to learn the prize is worthless. Ultimately, they are confronted with the fact that respectability does not equal freedom. Instead, they must learn to trust their own conflicted judgment and fight to create their own sense of space and self. “An exciting literary achievement by a significant emerging talent. This flawlessly executed work reinvigorates the short fiction genre.” —BUST “Equal parts funny, poignant, stirring and heartbreaking . . . This book is our collective coming-of-age story—and it’s about time. The variety of characters and experiences makes Training School required reading for your favorite Black girl.” —Essence “Acker navigates her characters’ lives with humor, heart, and grace. I loved these stories.” —Lisa Ko, award-winning author of The Leavers “A timely, welcome book.” —The Millions “It’s hard to believe this brilliant collection of stories is a debut, so beautifully does Camille Acker navigate difficult fictional terrain and complicated themes, including issues like gentrification, race, and ‘respectability’ politics.” —Nylon

When faced with danger you must DO something. The teacher at the Ant Hill School wants her students to be prepared - for everything! One day, she teaches her students what to do if a "dangerous someone" is in their school. "I'll be your shepherd, and you're all my sheep, so you must do what I say. Pretend there's a wolf in our building, and we MUST stay out of his way!" "We need a great plan of action in case we start to get scared. The ALICE Plan will work the best, to help us be prepared." Unfortunately, in the world we now live in, we must ask the essential question: What are the options for survival if we find ourselves in a violent intruder event? I'm Not Scared...I'm Prepared! will enhance the ALICE concepts and make them applicable to children of all ages in a non-fearful way. By using this book, children can develop a better understanding of what needs to be done if they ever encounter a "dangerous someone."

DIVTransnational ethnography and history of the School of the Americas, analyzing the military, peasant, and activist cultures that are linked by this institution. /div

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills have been demonstrated to be effective in helping adolescents manage difficult emotional situations, cope with stress, and make better decisions. From leading experts in DBT and school-based interventions, this unique manual offers the first nonclinical application of DBT skills. The book presents an innovative social?emotional learning curriculum designed to be taught at the universal level in grades 6-12. Explicit instructions for teaching the skills--mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness--are provided in 30 lesson plans, complete with numerous reproducible tools: 99 handouts, a diary card, and three student tests. The large-size format and lay-flat binding facilitate photocopying; purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. This book is in The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series, edited by T. Chris Riley-Tillman.

African American schools in the segregated South faced enormous obstacles in educating their students. But some of these schools succeeded in providing nurturing educational environments in spite of the injustices of segregation. Vanessa Siddle Walker tells the story of one such school in rural North Carolina, the Caswell County Training School, which operated from 1934 to 1969. She focuses especially on the importance of dedicated teachers and the principal, who believed their jobs extended well beyond the classroom, and on the community's parents, who worked hard to support the school. According to Walker, the relationship between school and community was mutually dependent. Parents sacrificed financially to meet the school's needs, and teachers and administrators put in extra time for professional development, specialized student assistance, and home visits. The result was a school that placed the needs of African American students at the center of its mission, which was in turn shared by the community. Walker concludes that the experience of CCTS captures a segment of the history of African Americans in segregated schools that has been overlooked and that provides important context for the ongoing debate about how best to educate African American children. African American History/Education/North Carolina

BUSINESS STRATEGY. "The 4 Disciplines of Execution "offers the what but also how effective execution is achieved. They share numerous examples of companies that have done just that, not once, but over and over again. This is a book that every leader should read! (Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of "The Innovator s Dilemma)." Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organization? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities? By the time it finally disappeared, it s likely no one even noticed. What happened? The whirlwind of urgent activity required to keep things running day-to-day devoured all the time and energy you needed to invest in executing your strategy for tomorrow. "The 4 Disciplines of Execution" can change all that forever.