Gangsta Angel: A Guardian Angel in Training (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780615505077)

This is Pat Kelly Wendling's first book. Originally from Bay Village, Ohio, Pat has lived in Irmo, South Carolina for thirty-two years. She began working with young people as an elementary school teacher in Ohio. In South Carolina she was both a State and National Trainer for the Just Say No Program. Pat presented programs on drugs and uncomfortable touch for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. She was the organizer and leader of a Just Say No Club that encompassed more than 1,000 kids from Kindergarten through 6th grade at Nursery Road Elementary School in Irmo, SC. She wrote raps and skits for the Shufflin' Crew, a traveling team of 5th & 6th graders for five years. Pat both wrote the skits and organized two state-wide rallies for Just Say No. Pat Wendling was the recipient of several awards, including awards from the School Board Association, School Associations, the United Way, and others. The Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest civilian award, was presented to her for her work with kids. The author is also a wife and a mother of three wonderful children and a grandmother of two precious grandchildren. Pat feels that kids need to be taught how to take care of themselves. They can learn that just as it becomes easier to do something wrong after the first time you do it, it likewise becomes easier to do something right each time a good decision is made. In a world where kids are struggling, a Gangsta Angel is good to have in your corner... Pat chose Gangsta Angel as the title because instead of gangs solving issues with bullets and violence, they can turn it around and kill each other with kindness. They can be a gang for good. Why not?!