June 18, 2022
​Hello Friends:
I want to share some good news… Since the publication of my award-winning children's book Seeds of Change, going to Kenya has only been a dream... until TODAY!!
Thank you to Andrea Holbrook from Holbrook Travel whose amazing company created this eco-travel program. 
TODAY I’ll be heading off to Kenya to explore the legacy of Nobel Prize-winning environmentalist Wangari Maathai. Along with a group of educators, scientists, and community partners, we will be tracing the footsteps of Wangari’s life; planting trees, visiting elementary students, meeting with community members, attending university-led min-lectures, and participating in environmental and wildlife conservation field experiences. 
My hope is to share what I will learn with my Chicago Public Schools students and colleagues so that together we may participate in positive actions to help our larger school community.
 If you want to get involved, please follow my journey on my social media.  Like. Share. Comment. Repost. Let others be sparked into inspiration and action by the legacy of Wangari Maathai.
Thank you for coming with me!

Meet Jen

​Jen Cullerton Johnson lives and writes in Chicago. She is the author of several  published books, essays, and short stories for children and adults. She has been awarded grants and fellowships for her writing and speaking.

In the mid 2000s, with Dr. Mary K. Gove she co-founded  Green Literacy, a framework that aligns educational institutions with lifelong ecological stewardship and transform young people's relationship with the environment by empowering them to become environmental leaders through reading and writing and acting in sustainable ways.
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Educated at University of New Orleans (MFA), Loyola University of Chicago (MEd) and Indiana University (BA), Jen loves Lake Michigan, gardening, and is one of the creators of the Karma Garden, a  collaborative community garden that serves temporarily detained incarcerated youth in Cook County. Jen is a proud Chicago Teacher's Union member and often holds Creativity workshops at the Quest Center. She teaches for Chicago Public Schools and adjuncts for Wright College, City College of Chicago

In 2020, in response to the lack of accessible high-quality, diverse children's books found in waiting rooms of family courts, judges chambers, attorney offices, Jen established the non-for-profit Books on Benches NP.