Who is DZAR?

DZAR (pronounced ZAR) is a channeled Energy of Compassion sought out by people from all around the world for the insights and guidance they share. They are an expression of the creative consciousness that pervades our universe.

Channeled by bestselling authors Gary & Mary O’Brien since 2008, they work with groups and individuals to create changes in their lives that bring more joy and a stronger connection to their Souls, to other people and to the earth itself. Their work begins at the level of the individual. Their goal is the transformation of humanity and the planet. They call on individuals to embrace their own deep knowing of who they are beyond their limited physical identity and to become the catalyst for change in their families, communities and the world around them, to become the Light that guides the way for others and dispels the darkness experienced by so many.

DZAR’s words are encoded with an Energetic transmission, called the Frequency Conversation, that enables people to shift at deep levels simply by sitting in their presence and engaging in the conversation they lead as well as working with the practical tools and processes taught on the workshops. Their groups and individual readings are humorous and playful as well as giving direct and compassionate guidance to help us to experience more joy, freedom and connection in our lives.

Helen Leatham is an Australian Registered Nurse who has worked around the world with love and integrity, to bear witness and stand with her fellow man. Her passion, though, is dying and with her nursing work the only way she could do it for so long in any western world hospital was to ask God to let her look after someone who needs her to help to have a discussion about their death. Her goal is always to help each person face their death without fear and not be trapped on the other side. This also means supporting the family to let go and guiding patient and family through the dying process.

Helen has also dedicated years to help improve conditions in some of the most devastated regions of the globe. After serving in an Australian aboriginal setting, Helen moved quickly to the 'front lines' with Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) in Afghanistan, Sudan and Nepal. Helen lived and worked in areas afflicted with constant warfare, desperate privation, and extreme heat. Malnutrition and dehydration were among the most common maladies affecting her patients, many of whom were newborns.

For more information on MSF, please see their website: doctorswithoutborders.com

Helen can be found on Facebook, and her email is: helen.leatham@aapt.net.au

Financial and Business Empowerment. As the founder and CEO, Shynna Key, Author, Speaker, Financial & Business Empowerment Coach, she has tailored a powerful movement dedicated to empower you and the audience around the world to BUILD YOUR EMPIRE!  As Shynna have been there and have done it herself with the struggles of it all of running a business and having multiple streams of income; Shynna provides an outlet for the ones in a financial struggle, to shed the shame and lack of financial and business knowledge.  She is a charitable mentor, a fanatical and visionary leader while improving others financial status by aiding with building multiple streams of income and credit just to name a few under the financial umbrella. Empowering You To BYE (Build Your Empire)!

Shynna Key- The Financial Fanatic, Author~Keynote Speaker~Financial & Business Empowerment Coach

info@shynnakey.com 203-871-1KEY  Twitter Facebook

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shynna-key-23774676

Jai Jamison is the co-writer and director of the inspiring new drama TRI. Jai .grew up in Richmond’s vibrant film and arts community. He attended Hampton University as an English major, where he devoted much of his free time to making short films and screening them in Richmond at Project Resolution. While at Hampton, he was awarded a scholarship to study film at Oxford University during the summer before his senior year.

Upon graduation, Jai was named a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellow and granted admission to American University’s MFA Film program. At American University, Jai distinguished himself early on as a stand out narrative filmmaker. He graduated summa cum laude and his thesis film, Speak Now, screened in festivals around the country. Jai has worked on Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, served as the supervising producer and editor of Hampton University’s “The View from Hampton U,” and recently worked as the visual effects assistant on season 2 of AMC’s TURN.
 Jai's latest project is the award winning feature film, TRI, an inspirational sports drama focused on the world of Tria

Canada features veteran journalist Merv Richie from Terrace, British Columbia. Merv has been targeted by the RCMP, BC government and Catholic church for his investigations into missing native women and state complicity in their deaths.

Merv Ritchie
C/O Terrace Daily News
PO Box 154 Terrace BC, V8G 4A6 

Scott Werner was born with the gift of higher dimensional sight, which means that when he “tunes in” to someone, he would not only see them in the physical level but also “see” them on multi-dimensional levels.

Scott had two near death experiences when he was young. The first time was at the age of 13 and the other at the age of 20. Each time that he came back into consciousness, he returned with the inner knowing that his role in this life is to assist in the “healing of humanity,” and his “gifts” were enhanced to the degree that he intuitively sees the physical body.

In 1986, at the age of 29, Scott was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, with multiple lesions on his spine and brain. Even though he was working at one of the best Medical facilities in the United States, his was given only 3 months to live. Unsatisfied with that prognosis, he went home and prayed for guidance.

In a dream that night, he was told that he would “heal his own cancer.” He did just that by using parasite cleanses, changing his diet and releasing emotional blockage in his life. He began studying herbs, and there  properties. This started his extensive path into alternative healing methods. Using parasite cleanses, herbs, toning, nutritional support, and detoxing the body.
A Little History

Scott Werner received his Medical degree from Saint Louis University School of medicine in 1986, specializing as an OB/GYN and general practitioner for 14 years.

He practiced at Good Samaritan medical center in Phoenix Az. Scott was recognized in advanced laparoscopic laser surgery and Gynecological laser surgery. He later moved his successful medical practice to Utah and during his career he delivered over 2000 babies successfully. Scott used Alternative/complementary techniques and has seen thousands of patients.

Scott used herbs, homeopathic and energetic remedies and Chelation therapy in the improvement of health and wellness in “untreatable illnesses and dis-ease”. He relinquished his Medical license in Utah and Arizona and left traditional medicine in 2005 and opened an herb store in St. George Utah. Scott has lectured extensively to private and professional groups throughout the United States educating them about multiple healing modalities, and herbal products. He is very gifted, incredibly insightful, informative, animated and entertaining. He has lectured on many health subjects ranging from Parasites to virus and from nutritional support to healing energy blockages. He has thousands of clients all over the world, who have sought him out for his knowledge of these process’. He has also lectured many times for the annual conferences held through Systemic Formulas.

Scott truly believes and is of the opinion, that all “dis-ease” is a combination of too much toxicity and not enough nutrition in the body, coupled with emotions that deplete our health. He has a very spiritual understanding to the approach to wellness and has worked extensively with world class healer, Katherine Beck. He has learned many healing methods and techniques.

**FDA Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure or prevent disease. Please consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program. If there is a change in your medical condition, please notify your physician immediately and stop taking or using the product

Jennifer N. Martin holds a BA in English and an MA in Educational Administration. Listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 1998, she is a former university instructor, high school English teacher, and educational administrator.

Jennifer is the co-author, along with Rosemary Dean, of The Angels Speak: Secrets from the Other Side which was published in 1994. She is a contributing author to the New York Times best-selling series, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and has stories in the series, Not Your Mother's Book.

In 2007, Jennifer's first novel, The Huna Warrior: The Magic Begins, won a bronze IPPY award for Best Visionary Fiction. She's also written five award-winning screenplays, including The Hunatics (rhymes with lunatics) which won the Gold Kahuna Award for Best Screenplay at the 2011 Honolulu Film Awards.

A former television host/producer of Hot STUFF, an educational program which aired in the Sacramento area for eight years, Jennifer also hosted Tahoe Weekly Magazine on the Travel Network.

She is the producer/writer of Breaking Ground for Peace, winner of the Outstanding Cine Visionary Award at the 2012 Sacramento International Film Festival.

Her latest book, Psoriasis —A Love Story, tells the true story of Jennifer's 30-year battle with psoriasis. By becoming a self-described guinea pig, she experimented with every traditional and alternative therapy to find a cure that her doctors said didn't exist. Her relentless search eventually led to the startling discovery that our toxic environment with its poisonous air, water, and food supply, was the real cause of her disease.

She is the founder of H.E.A.L.—Health and Environmental Alliance, a group which meets to learn more about the connection between health and our ever-increasing toxic environment. She teaches workshops called “Staying Healthy in a Toxic Environment” at Sierra College in Rocklin and as well as the Sacramento Learning Exchange.

Mary Reed is an “accidental” mystic who, following eleven years of profound, involuntary visions and insights into divine realms, surrendered her executive life in Washington, DC to explore her spiritual gifts in a remote Buddhist nunnery in India. She grew up without any interest in religion but with an innate knowing that humans had more ability to access greater wisdom than most seemed to realize.

She is originally from the U.S. Southwest but spent most of her career directing global healthcare programs and creating nonprofit partnerships throughout America and Africa. Today she divides her time between Thosamling Nunnery in India, where she is often immersed in silence, and traveling to speak with a variety of audiences to share her story as a way to illuminate the common ground of Love and precious Divinity in all of us, and to inspire joyful collective resurrection and remembrance with her unique view of our beautifully awakening world.

Naturopathic doctor, Judy Seeger educates people about their health and empowers them to heal themselves in a very organic way. With more than thirty years in the field of alternative medicine, she is extraordinarily experienced at helping people achieve a greater level of wellness.

Dr. Seeger was the director at River of Life Health Center, a Wholistic Health Clinic. Now retired, but still teaching her Three  Step System working with thousands of people across the globe. Her system has been found to increase health and quality of life after their treatments are over.

Dr. Seeger specializes in detox and cleansing the body to make sure all toxins are removed after chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She has found by implementing her 3 Step System, that many people greatly reduce the chance of cancer ever coming back.

She’s also authored  books, which are available exclusively in an electronic format, plus created an online tv show called DetoxandRecharge.tv. Along with writing and production, she’s also created training videos, instructional CD’s, teleseminars and webinars.

A unique pioneering professional in the field of alternative medicine, Dr. Seeger’s primary focus is on detoxing cancer. Dr. Seeger has developed an easy to follow 3 Step System that she shares with clients across the world. Her plan outlines exactly how to super boost the immune system to reverse this deadly disease, release the toxins that have stored up after chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and  re-balance the emotional, mental and spiritual aspects.

Her passion and inspiration came from her own family members who were afflicted with the disease. Even as a child, she knew there must be another way, and so she allocates a great deal of her time to searching, traveling and testing what alternative medicine works and what doesn’t.

Dr. Bradford S. Weeks, M.D. completed undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College (major: Political Philosophy) then, prior to medical school training at the University of Vermont and Neurological/Psychiatric residency at Dartmouth Hitchciock, Dr. Weeks worked in the Harvard system doing two years of research at Massachusetts General Hospital’s mineral metabolism unit working on osteoporosis (calcium, magnesium and vitamin D). In addition, he studied nutrition (including macrobiotics with Mishio Kushi in Brookline, MA), acupuncture, massage (shiatsu), music therapy (Tomatis method, power of chant), Anthroposophical medicine and classical homeopathy. Medical school at the University of Vermont was followed by medical internship (1 year) and psychiatric residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (3 years). An organic beekeeper before he studied medicine, Dr. Weeks founded the American Apitherapy Society in 1985 to educate people about the medicine which comes from the honeybee hive. For the past 30 years he has practiced psycho-neuro-immunology anddeveloped the field of “corrective medicine and psychiatry” wherein, rather than simply suppressing symptoms with prescription medications, the root causes of illness are discovered and corrected.  In 2014, Dr. Weeks founded the Washington Integrative Medical Association washima.org to champion health care freedom for citizens of Washington State. He blogs at weeksmd.com and consults for Safalab.com - a cutting edge neutraceutical company which features “centsible” remedies - those which are safe effective and cost-effective.

Here is a recent 20 minute lecture at the 44th annual Cancer Control Society in LA Sept 3rd in which Dr. Weeks discusses that the days of chemotherapy and radiation are ending to be replaced with anti-inflammatory agents and immune enhancing agents.  

https://youtu.be/xf-iuIuXYUQ

THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

WELCOMES

LEGENDARY IMPRESSIONIST, VOICE ACTOR,COMEDIAN

RICH LITTLE

A master mimic of more than 200 voices, Little continues to impress with a touring schedule throughout the United States and Canada.

U.S. Presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, both George Bushes and Barack Obama…Rich Little has a voice for every administration.

Infamous for his skewering of political figures, Little has charmed, amused, intrigued and gotten the best of politicians from here to his native Canada. He entertained at both of Reagan’s presidential inaugurations and got to know the Reagans very well during that time. President Reagan used to tell Little, “You do me better than I do.”

A professed classic movie buff, he’s particularly fond of doing Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon, John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart, but Little has also latched on to baby boomer-friendly characters, such as Paul Lynde, Kermit the Frog, Andy Rooney and Dr. Phil, to name a few.

Some of his favorite current impressions are of stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jack Nicholson, and Clint Eastwood. “They’re easy to do,” he says. “They are larger than life.”

Little says, “An impression is what you think a person sounds like. It could be an exaggeration or a cartoon. It’s your impression. I think of an impersonation as more of an exact copy. Knowing the person personally is not important; it’s knowing the speech patterns and mannerisms [in order] to imitate the person the way the public sees him.”

The son of a doctor in Ottawa, Little started his “career” at the age of 12 when he answered back to his teachers in their own voices. Observing the teachers in action was infinitely more fun than paying attention to class work. To get dates, he’d find out a girl’s favorite actor, then call her up imitating that actor’s voice. Then when Little showed up, he’d say, “Sorry, Cary [Grant] can’t make it.” This stopped when a girl told him her favorite was Lassie.

Impressions came in handy to Little while working as a disc jockey and talk show host. During one April Fool’s Day marathon, he had “Jimmy Durante” emcee the morning show, “Julia Child” do a cooking show and “Elvis Presley” host a teenage show. Like the infamous 1939 broadcast of War of the Worlds, 500 autograph-hungry Elvis-believing fans besieged the station, thinking the King was really there. When they found out it was Little, the fans started throwing things at him.

Still in his early 20s, Little was discovered while working in the United States. His friend, singer Mel Torme, then on the musical team of CBS network’s The Judy Garland Show, asked him to make a tape. Instead of the usual impressions, Little did voices nobody did, including Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and Dennis Weaver. Garland thought it was great, particularly his James Mason, and Little was signed to the show.

Appearances on TV variety shows starring Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Glen Campbell and Dean Martin followed, as well as on series such as Laugh-In, The John Davidson Summer Show and as a regular on The Julie Andrews Show. Little also had his own variety show in the 70s and was the star of the TV show KopyKats. Little was a guest host early on for The Tonight Show, hosting 12 times. He quickly became a household name sitting in one of the Hollywood Squares and went on to do The Muppet Show.

Named “Comedy Star of the Year” by the American Guild of Variety Artists, Little was the perpetrator of nine comedy albums and three HBO comedy specials, as well as the Emmy-award winning specials Rich Little’s Christmas Carol with “W.C. Fields” as Scrooge, “Humphrey Bogart” as one of the ghosts and “Paul Lynde” as Bob Cratchit.

One of his appearances on HBO was as Johnny Carson in the movie The Late Shift, which dealt with the race to succeed Carson on The Tonight Show. Little has appeared on the daytime soaps The Young and the Restless and Santa Barbara. He has made dramatic guest shots on Fantasy Island, Chips, Murder She Wrote,

Little’s expert impressions have also been used seriously, such as the time he stepped in for stars that were unable to do their own re-dubbings on soundtracks. David Niven’s vocal cords were gone due to illness in his last film, Curse of the Pink Panther and Peter Sellers himself was gone by the end of The Trail of the Pink Panther, so Little provided both voices for these films. The television series Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer needed voice-over narrations on three shows, but star Stacey Keach was unable to do them. Little was called in to finish the job. He also did Gene Kelly for a Christmas special when Kelly lost his voice; and more recently, Ernie Borgnine for the animated Cranky’s Miracle after he passed away.

Rick’s greatest fear? A sore throat. “Other people get a cold and they just get a cold. I get a cold and John Wayne gets a cold, Orson Welles gets a cold, Nixon gets a cold and Truman Capote gets the sniffles. I get a cold and it’s all over.”

In June 1998, Little’s star was added to the Canadian Walk of Fame to go along with his current stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Palms Springs Walk of Fame and Las Vegas Walk of Fame; one of the few, if not the only celebrity to achieve all four.

In 2003, Little wrote a one-man play entitled, Jimmy Stewart and Friends in honor of this beloved actor and dear friend.  The story of Stewart’s amazing big screen career, his military record and his family life, including many celebrity impersonations, was met with rave reviews during a decade of touring at performing arts centers..  He’s hoping to have it made into a television special in the near future.

A little known fact about Little is his other talent as an artist.  He started sketching when he was young, drawing his family and friends.  To date, he has drawn around 100 pictures of all the celebrities and politicians he imitates, and portrays several of these life-like charcoal sketches in his shows.

In January 2010, Little became a United States citizen and was sworn in, with a suggestion from the judge to do it as John Wayne! His wife at the time, Marie, also passed away that year. Little later created the Marie and Rich Little Foundation, in honor of his wife, which focuses on helping children, the homeless and animals in need. Rich is also very supportive of Wounded Warriors and causes for the armed services. He proudly has two daughters: Bria and Lyndsay, and a beautiful granddaughter, Alaina. Little has been married four times. He currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. When not working, he spends most of his time with his one-eyed cat, T-Bo.

Little is still currently working on his latest project, “Little by Little” a self-written, humorous show about his life, featuring over 30 characters. Rich also has an exciting new book out entitled Little by Little- Peopled I’ve Known and Been- released in August this year and available to purchase on amazon.

Rich Little on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/therichlittle/

Rich Little on Twitter https://twitter.com/the_rich_little

MICHAEL BARNUM

Michael Barnum is a singer-songwriter born and raised in Long Beach, California. Fusing sounds of pop, rock, and soul, Barnum’s sound is all his own. With a strong presence in the Los Angeles and Orange County music scenes, he has performed at events and venues across Southern California, including the 626 Night Market, the Moon Festival, a residency at Kafe Neo, The World Famous Doll Hut and The Mint, among others.

The Mint in Los Angeles hailed Barnum to have, “…the unique ability to bring his pitch-perfect voice from a delicate almost whisper, to a roar, all without losing that desirable tone and pitch all singers strive for.”

A self-taught guitar player, he grew up in a musical household playing piano, singing and acting. As an actor, Barnum has appeared in many productions from rock musicals like Spring Awakening and Next to Normal to classics like The King and I. He graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a degree in Theatre Arts.

While performing locally as a musician and actor, he found his biggest audience through live streaming apps, Periscope and Krue, where thousands of followers world-wide tune in each week to watch live broadcasts of his concerts. It was these fans that encouraged him to full-heartedly pursue a music and songwriting career.

Barnum released his debut album Trust in September 2016 after a highly successful crowdfunding campaign—with an outpouring of support from his fans around the world he made 122% of his goal. He co-wrote the entire album which was produced by David Chua Boon Ghee (Andy Grammer, Jessie J, Rachel Platten, One Direction). The songs on Trust are deep, meaningful and based on Barnum’s own personal experience. They explore the journey of finding one’s place in the world and trusting in the path that you’re on.

With uplifting melodies, powerful lyrics and stirring vocals, Barnum delivers a sound reminiscent of artists like Ed Sheeran, Andy Grammer and John Legend. On the heels of the release of Trust, Barnum is planning a West Coast tour and album release concert to-be-announced.

DR CHRISTIAN PETER WAGNER

For survival initially, and then by interest, Chris has always been focused on understanding what it means to be human AND how to improve the human condition by the use of technology.

This focus has kept him with a bit of a split personality for most of his life – as he struggled to figure out how to integrate the mathematics and precision of being a professor of Engineering for 35 years, AND the spiritual transformative experiences of visits from Divine Energies.

His research area as a professor has been Artificial Intelligence – he has worked for years helping to bring human intelligence into computers, with doctoral students scattered in many places around the globe taking his understanding of AI into really real world scenarios!

His teaching in spirit has been propelled by his forced entry into trance channeling – wherein he opens up to Divine Source and lets unexpected and unplanned beautiful words
flow into his consciousness.

Chris’ current focus are many:
1. The Soul Engineering Website – a major revision coming soon – soulengineering.com

2. Two new books, both in 2nd draft and to be done by the end of the year.

a. One is the Biography of his wife, Starr Porter –
b. The second is a book on deep romance

3. Involvement in a new movie that starts shooting in January and should be out by the end of the year that shows the common ground between all people in a drama set in Iraq.

4. The Human Operating System – what we do not know DOES HURT US! Perhaps the most important thing that Socrates ever said were those two words – KNOW THYSELF As we learn more about HOW WE WORK IN THE BODY, we gain control, compassion, delight, love, and expansion for our lives.

5. Muze from Senso Laboratories – a new technology that takes information on a person’s individual biometrics to HYPER-Personalize how your life can be made better by computer technology.

We are all in this together!

The time is now for those of good heart to come together – the world needs our interconnectivity and support NOW!!!

El ROB

*ORANGE COUNTY MUSIC AWARDS NOMINEE- BEST MALE VOCALIST 2008.

*NATIONAL TOURING ARTIST

Featured artist on the soundtrack for the feature film “Anacapa”

A native of historical San Juan Capistrano, CA. Robert grew up surfing and hiking the coast of California, Arizona and Mexico. Have cultivated a love of cooking, jewelry, records, rare stones, anthropology and indigenous art, he has travelled via backpack throughout Europe, and lived throughout the United States and Arizona believing that music and rhythm truly are the International language of love.

When hes not teaching vocals, guitar, Shaolin Kempo or drums, Robert loves to do stand up comedy, avant garde theatre, direct others, write scripts, books, publish childrens stories, magazine articles and act in movies…

Film credits include Nick Tolkiens MASQUERADE-Santa Barbara international film festival, TEREZIN-Bel Air film festival, ANACAPA, also Sebastian Bascos SUICIDE DOORS opposite David Johnasen, Spike Lees BAMBOOZLED, Jane Campions IN THE CUT, UNDERCOVERS , UNDER SURVEILANCE, and an as yet untitled Christian Slater film)

His favorite support gigs thus far have included a sold out show with Wishbone Ash at the Coach House, opening for Blues Prodigy Ray Goren at Boogies, Redondo Pier. William Elliott Whitmore at the OC Tavern, Marc Orell (Dropkick Murphys) at the historic Whiskey a Go Go, Hollywood, Cinco de Mayo at the Coach House, Omar Velasco at Soho, Santa Barbara. Doylestown Pennsylvania im told Alicia Moore walked in after I packed up…crushed ).

Headlining shows at Cold Springs Tavern, Soho & Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, sharing the stage with Lee Koch at the original Zoeys, Ventura, Jarrod Gorbell (Honorary Title) at Sidewalk Café and Tonic in NYC & Ari Hest at the CBGB’s gallery, NYC. and Eastern Conference Champions (Twilight soundtrack) at the Brixton South Bay, in Redondo Beach, CA.

Favorite tribute projects include frontman for SIMULCAST -NY a rock dance band Founding member of STONE TEMPLE RIOTS -STP tribute, touring member of CORE-STP tribute, vocalist with MATCHBOX TWENTY TOO-MB20 Tribute, and as Ric Ocasek in a CARS tribute.

After attending the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City he enjoyed a 10 year run acting off broadway at the Public Theatre alongside Liev Schreiber and Keith David. with a bit as a security guard in JJ Abrams’ tv hit “UNDERCOVERS”. He has also been featured in commercials for Sothebys Realtors, Chumash Casino, Swatch and Wine picks. He currently lives in the Moment, CA.

DANA BLANNON

Dana Blannon has worked in field of education for 30 years. In many different educational settings ranging from the college-level to elementary. Her work has always been based around students, parents and teachers. On daily basis Dana is responsible for the school operations and is the anchor of the school community. Managing the dynamics of public school and the socio-emotional well being of the students is no easy task, and has worked to find tools to address the students’ needs. Students and parents come into the office looking for support and help from the school and Ms. Blannon is often the first person to address the issues.However, Dana Blannon does it whole-heartedly and is cherished and beloved by all the students and parents of Wonderland. Being a single mother herself allows to relate to the challenges and victories of parenting.

Now public education is calling for schools to take responsibility for the social-emotional development of our children. Together, Dana and Karla, they have created a children’s book series, as the perfect tool in addressing the students’ needs. This book series fills a huge deficient in public education. It allows teachers, parents, and students to address the tough social-emotional topics that have been overlooked. “In the Heart of the Coop” has the answer to this problem. This book series lends itself to the delicate social-emotional topics by creating a safe gateway to share stories with children. Some of the book topics are: Peer-Pressure, Bullying, Friendship, Death, Grief, Homelessness, Divorce, and more. . The book series also includes “Read Alouds” for teachers and parents, along with a “Way of Council”, story-telling prompts.

KARLA LOPEZ

Karla Lopez, Instructional Specialist & School Coordinator at Wonderland Ave. Elementary school in Los Angeles California. It is there where her passion for supporting the social-emotional needs of students became a focus in her career. Her work with students, parents, and teachers through the Way of Council program in schools increased and as part of the Way of Council Leadership Committee Mrs. Lopez worked with the community to develop the “Peace Talk Protocol”, Peaceful Warrior Assemblies, Wisdom Councils, Social-Emotional Curriculum for the classroom, she also started a student leadership group whose focus is to develop student-led assemblies that address conflict resolution, peace, being social activists, and identify problems in their community and how to solve them.

Mrs. Lopez has an equal passion for instruction and curriculum development. She has been a part of the Instructional Leadership Team at Wonderland Elementary for seven years and has been an integral part of the decision-making process as well as implementation and instructional development team for their Readers’ & Writers’ Workshop (which comes from Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York City) and Cognitively Guided Instruction in Mathematics (part of the UCLA Math Project). Her shared efforts to lead the school in outstanding instruction has led Wonderland to receive the “California Distinguished School Award” in 2011 and expecting to receive the National Blue Ribbon Award in 2017. Wonderland’s instructional programs, dedicated teachers, school culture & climate and social-emotional programs are the reasons why Wonderland has been topped ranking in the district for many years.

Karla Lopez is graduate of Eastern Michigan University moved to Los Angeles, California to become a teacher in 2000. Since then, she has earned her Master’s Degree from California State University in Educational Leadership and Administration. She started teaching in Los Angeles in 2000. Teaching children allowed Karla to realize that students and parents come to school with many issues and needs that aren’t being addressed. Educators are more than just teachers. They are nurses, coaches, parents, counselors, referees and family. Gradually Mrs. Velasco made the change to school administration at Wonderland Elementary School where she met Dana Blannon, her friend and co-author of “The Coop”, in 2013. Karla Lopez is passionate about education, curriculum, and the social-emotional well-being of the students. She brings her training and knowledge of Way of Council to address the socio-emotional issues that arise daily in the school community.

Dana and Karla work closely together at Wonderland Ave School. It is through their friendship and personalities that the characters Sunshine and Dark Cloud came to life. Using their personal dynamics the idea for “The Coop” was born. Through Karla’s optimistic & positive outlook on life the nickname, Sunshine, was given to her by Dana. In return, Dana was rewarded the nickname, Dark Cloud, for her realistic and logical perspective. And along with the day to day problems that arise, they are constantly encountering many social issues around students, parents, and adults. Dana and Karla started to really think about how they could help their school community, but most importantly the kids. How do you help children (and adults) truly deal with issues of bullying, peer pressure, family, sickness, and even death? At their school site one of strategies they use in helping kids and the adults address issues and tough situations is through storytelling. Storytelling is a gateway to discuss “tough topics” in a safe environment that may be too delicate to bring up in a conversation. Our goal is to provide parents and teachers with tools to help them through the challenges of everyday life. The Coop is a whole package it lends itself to variety of topics and lessons to address the social and emotional development of children (ages five to thirteen). Not only have we developed the first book in the series, and are working on our third.

Jasmine Brett Stringer is principal of JB Stringer LLC and founder of the internationally recognized lifestyle brand Carpe Diem with Jasmine. She has more than 15 years of business-to-business sales and customer marketing experience. She is highly skilled in business development, customer relationship management, and social media. Jasmine and JB Stringer LLC have worked with several Fortune 500 companies such as Kraft Foods, General Mills, Box Tops for Education, Toyota, Fox Searchlight, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN TV) and Publicis Groupe on various initiatives and campaigns.

As a nationally recognized and sought-after lifestyle expert, Jasmine has been featured on a variety of media outlets. She is a weekly lifestyle contributor to local CBS television station WCCO-TV. She has also contributed to the nationally syndicated television show The Insider, Yahoo and MSN and featured on OWN TV. Her southern belle charm is not limited to the screen; Jasmine teaches others to seize their life as a regular contributor for the Huffington Post and within her own lifestyle blog.