Suwanee resident Amy Poole Pearce is a veteran educator and self-described “lover of rhymes.” A seventh grade accelerated math teacher at North Gwinnett Middle School, Pearce is mom to two sons, wife to her husband of 27 years and, as of this year, can now add “author” to her resume.
“As a parent, I loved reading both rhymes and meaningful books to my boys as they grew up,” she said. “I have always been inspired by stories that challenged my boys to develop positive character traits. I can still recite a few rhyming books and nursery rhymes too from my own childhood.”
A graduate of the University of Georgia, Pearce took her combined skills in education and parenting and has written three children’s books, designed to “promote character development and social and emotional learning for children,” according to her website.
“I believe in literature that both nurtures and equips children with positive role models,” Pearce said. “I also believe that powerful stories give kids strength and ability to make right choices as they develop their own character.”
Out of that belief, Pearce wrote “Truthful Tessa,” “Benjamin the Bully” and “Negative Nelly” 14 years ago to help children learn integrity and better life skills through the experiences of others. In 2021, Pearce’s dream of publishing her stories became a reality when she launched the first book in the series. Tessa’s story is the first to be published and is available online.
“Publishing this book was a bright spot in this dystopic year of concurrent teaching with masked kids in the classroom and digital kids on Zoom. My fellow educators have been so encouraging during this whole process and have truly been happy for me,” Pearce said. “My students asked almost daily for updates as they entered my classroom. It was a wonderful process to share with them. They were also cheerleaders saying things like, ‘I can’t wait to buy your book,’ and ‘I didn’t know math teachers could write,’ and my favorite, ‘Wait, that’s really good!’ when one certain student heard my story for the first time.”
With the gift-giving season upon us, Pearce hopes her book will be gifted many times over and be the gift to others she intended it to be.
“As a teacher, I designed these books to be springboards for lessons in a classroom to build social-emotional and cognitive skills for children,” Pearce said. “I first imagined them as tools for counselors to provide students with thought-provoking examples of positive peers and life-building choices as they build their identity. It is my hope that these stories are relatable with valuable lessons on how to develop positive character traits for many, many children to become contributing members of their community.”
Pearce has several local ties to the North Gwinnett community having lived in Suwanee and taught in Sugar Hill, and she has several family members who live and work in Buford.
For more information on Pearce or how to have Santa deliver “Truthful Tessa” to a child or school library you know, visit charactereducationbooks.com.
