Calming Young Minds

by Joe McQueen

Joe McQueen is currently Principal of alternative education for the Regional Office of Education #33. He has over twenty years’ experience in the field of mental health. He was an LBS1 teacher, special education coordinator, and a residential treatment specialist. Joe is also an author and has been working as a dynamic trainer and speaker for the past five years, presenting at national conferences and working with various schools in west central Illinois.

Joe is a U.S military veteran (GO NAVY), a husband of over 20 years and a father to 3 amazing daughters. He has happily dedicated the last 25 years working and teaching in the field of special education with an emphasis on students with mental and emotional needs. He started working in a residential treatment center (RTC) in 1999 after honorably discharging from the Navy. He worked with kids ages 6-14 with severe mental and emotional struggles. Many had been victims of horrific abuse. During this time, he completed his undergraduate degree as a learning behavioral specialist (LBS1) at Illinois State University (home of the Red Birds). After graduation Joe taught a 4th-6th grade self-contained behavior disorder class (now called emotional disabilities). During this time he also became certified to do drug and alcohol counseling while working at an RTC on a Gang unit, outside of Chicago for 16-19-year-old

inmates’ wanting to get a sentence reduction or early parole. Joe was a teacher by day, councilor by night for 5 years.

Joe eventually moved into the high school setting and had helped develop behavioral programs for a co-op elementary schools.

In 2010 Joe was offered a job in sunny Phoenix Arizona. He worked at a day school for 6 years where he was an IEP coordinator, transitions coordinator and teacher. After weathering the heat a few years, the prospect to move North, away from the inferno summers of Phoenix, arose. Joe saw opportunity knocking – and answered the door. He was able to return to his first love - RTC work. He spent 5 years as the Director of Education at an all-girl RTC located in the secluded mountains of Prescott Valley, Arizona. At the time, this was one of the top facilities in the nation for sexually exploited teens.

Joe feels that he has been blessed that most of his career has been spent working with teens in the gang, substance abuse, and the sexually

exploited population. He is passionate about this population and want to offer them a positive and supporting voice.

He currently the director of alternative programming for the Regional office of education in Galesburg Illinois. I over see two campuses with over 100 students all in alternative programs for various reasons, from expulsion, sever acting out behavior and anxiety or truancy.

Joe’s book “Calming Young Minds - Understanding Mental Health, De-Escalation, Trauma, and Restorative Practices in Teens” is a culmination of years of work and love.

If you’re an educator or social worker who wants to make a real difference in the lives of struggling teens, Calming Young Minds is the book for you. Written by Joseph S. McQueen, an education consultant, with over 20 years of experience working with at-risk youth, this book offers a unique perspective on understanding mental health, deescalation, trauma, and restorative practices in teens.

McQueen’s book delivers an authentic, researchbased approach to understanding and working with kids who struggle with social-emotional issues.

Unlike other books on the topic, Calming Young Minds draws from real-world experience and practical, research-based solutions that have been tested and proven effective in the trenches of the classroom. McQueen knows firsthand what it’s like to work with kids whom others have written off, and here he shares his hard-won insights and strategies. With strikingly positive feedback from educators and social workers who have attended his training and presentations, McQueen’s book is both practical and inspiring. Whether you’re a teacher, social worker, or another professional who works with kids, Calming Young Minds is an essential resource for understanding and supporting the emotional needs of today’s youth.

Calming Young Minds is a call to action for anyone who cares about our children’s and society’s future. Available now on Amazon paper back and Kindle