The Good Lessons: A Teaching Life with Gangs, Delinquents and Troubled Teens

"A necessary read for anyone serious about personal transformation and peace in our communities." Luis Rodriguez, Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, and author of "Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A."

A provocative, inspiring, and highly original take on the education and healing of troubled, alienated and gang involved youth. These are beautiful, harrowing stories of transformation as both a high-crime urban and a reservation Indian community decide to throw out convention and rethink what it means, and what it takes, to raise their most alienated and difficult children.

Raised in East Los Angeles and also a professional musician, Hernandez-Sametier has been a teacher, counselor and principal in some of the most difficult urban and rural school environments across the U.S. and Indian Country. He recently served as a therapist for high-trauma, unaccompanied minors detained by U.S. immigration. In 2006, he was honored as the "national educator of the year" by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education.

Author: Arturo Hernandez-Sametier
Publisher: Luna Triste Press
Published: 04/15/2020
Pages: 178
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.46lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.25w x 0.41d
ISBN: 9781735279763

About the Author
Tovar, Peter: - Peter Tovar is a seminal artist in the Chicano Art movement of Los Angeles. He was the founder ofColoresan on-site gallery boutique at Self Help Graphics in East Los Angeles. He has also designed book covers for authors such as Gary Soto, Arturo Hernandez and Daniel Sanchez. Peter Tovar was born at Children's Hospital in San Francisco. Second oldest son of five children, Peter grew up in Campbell Calif., a small area outside San Jose. His summers would be spent with his grandmother and cousins in the orchards. When they would break for lunch, his grandmother spun stories about the rich history of Mexico and her eventual journey to California.. We are the people of the earth, she would tell them. For Peter the colors of the watermelon symbolize his childhood memories of those cherished summers.In 1964 his family moved to LA where he finished high school. Peter began painting after serving in Vietnam. He continued to paint while working at SHG, and in February 1994, had his first exhibit at Self Help Graphics' Galeria Otra Vez. The exhibit consisted of a series of acrylic painting. Currently Peter lives in the downtown area of Los Angeles.Peter has four grown children and five grandchildren.Hernandez-Sametier, Arturo: - Raised in East Los Angeles, Hernandez-Sametier has been a teacher, counselor and principal in some of the most difficult urban and rural school environments across the U.S. and Indian Country. He recently served as a therapist for high-trauma, unaccompanied minors detained by U.S. immigration. In 2006, he was honored as the national educator of the year by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. A musician since childhood, the author still performs professionally. His first novel, The Music of Jimmy Ojotriste was drawn from memories of the East L.A. mariachis of his childhood.