No. 18 Vol. 3
My Life Publications • 973-809-4784
March 2022
Morristown Teen’s New Children’s Book Aims to Increase Alzheimer’s Awareness
I
By Alexander Rivero t has never been too late to start fighting a good fight. Valencia Julien reminds us that it is never too early either. The 17-year-old Morristown High School junior, aside from being a volunteer at the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater New Jersey (AAGNJ), has just published a children’s book, Giselle Learns About Alzheimers, which attempts to discuss with young children the disease that plagued her own grandfather at the time she was a young child herself. Seeing her grandfather go through the known effects of the disease profoundly moved Julien at the time in ways she was then unable to capture or express. As all powerful experiences from childhood, this one stayed deep within her, fueling her to immortalize her grandfather by educating as many children (and adults) as possible about what it is like to witness first-hand a loved one go through the disease. The idea for the book itself came during her high school freshman year, when she was challenged with completing her Northern New Jersey Girl Scout Gold Award Leadership Project, the top award in a girl scout’s entire time spent within the organization. The project a girl intends on submitting in order to earn her Gold Award needs to be completed by the end of her high school years. Having already earned her Bronze Award (at the end of elementary school) and her Silver Award (by the end of middle school), Julien saw a precious chance to do something special. By writing a children’s book on Alzheimer’s, she could earn the top award of the organization, she could do something in memory of her beloved grandfather, and—most importantly to her—she could help future generations understand this mysterious illness in a way that was fun, creative, and accessible to all. “My main concern was to help children around the age
I was when my grandfather was diagnosed better understand Alzheimer’s disease,” says the teen by phone. To complete the project to Girl Scout standards would be no cakewalk. Gold Award projects need to be presented to a committee, which then rigorously reviews it and either accepts or rejects it. Once accepted, the candidate then becontinued on page 6
The DeFazio Flanagan Team Denise Flanagan Cell: 973.420.4590 dflan2015@gmail.com
Margaret DeFazio Cell: 201.738.7636 medefazio@gmail.com
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