We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Piland. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.

Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

As a former elementary teacher who quit after four, short years, I feel like there is a lot we could/should change about our educational system. The main focus should always be on how we can support our students, and in direct relation, how we can support our teachers. And the sad truth is that there are varying percentages of kids in crisis across our country. There are students that come to school looking for refuge, looking for safety, looking for stability, and usually academics is the last thing on their minds. How can we better support these kids on an emotional and physical level first? How can we provide more therapeutic one-on-one or small group services to help regulate emotions and decrease behavioral outbursts? How can we provide them with the best integrated and customized learning plans to increase their chances of success when everything is set up to be this or that. Then, there are also students that come to school looking for the learning opportunities, looking for social connections, looking for engaging experiences, and these students can get easily disrupted by the more urgent needs. Unfortunately, public education can’t just be about academics on most campuses. The student suffers. The fellow students suffer. The teachers & staff suffer. The community suffers. There has to be a better way.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

When I walked away from the classroom I felt guilt. I felt like I was leaving behind students who really needed a consistent & supportive adult. Leaving behind colleagues who were often at the end of their ropes as well. A situation that was bigger than myself yet maybe there was still something I could do. That’s when the concept of the Blooming Rose children’s book series was born. This series was first envisioned as a connection tool to use in the classroom, used to build relationships, trust and empathy that of course can be used at home as well. Ideally, conversations about self-confidence, respect, hard work, self-regulation would begin at home, but it’s sadly not always the case. So my hope is that teachers can easily integrate these read-aloud stories, before & after thinking prompts, and academic exercises from our Beyond the Text Bundle into their lessons, and that parents can easily do the same at home.

Our first title “Blooming Rose Blasts Off” is now available on our site. This is a story of our main character Rose, and how she overcomes a school project that she wants to quit before she even begins. With a conversation starter about perseverance, and follow up activities that reflect reading comprehension, vocabulary building, writing prompt, whole group project, character building and more, we hope the connections extend far beyond the last page.

Our follow up titles include “Blooming Rose Finds Her Jam” about using the power of music to influence your moods, and “Blooming Rose Chills Out” which exhibits calming movement & breathing techniques to overcome a sticky situation. More on these titles, and to purchase a custom signed copy of “Blooming Rose Blasts Off” can be found on our website, BloomingRoseKids.com.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The mission behind Blooming Rose is to get our books, and ones that are similar, in to as many hands of students, kids, educators and families as possible, to spark meaningful conversations that will help propel our children forward. There are so many factors that can hold our kiddos back, and knowing they’re not alone, they’re not abnormal, they’re not different for feeling certain emotions or facing certain obstacles, can help them gain confidence and tools to help them in the future.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

So far, being an author has been so rewarding when I see my book in the hands of kids, families, and classrooms that come together to discuss the topic and get excited about sharing their connections. I want this series to be able to bring people together. Books are magical like that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BloomingRoseKids.com
• Instagram: @BloomingRoseKids
• Facebook: @BloomingRoseKids
• Linkedin: Lauren Piland
• Youtube: Blooming Rose Kids
• Other: You can also find us on Pinterest @BloomingRoseKids and coming soon, our bundles will be available on our TeachersPayTeachers store.

Image Credits
Jillian Reed Photography