Julie Federico, author and school violence prevention expert

Responding to Violence

Julie Federico, M.A., is a child services advocate with firsthand knowledge of school violence. While working as a school counselor for Jefferson County Schools in Colorado, Federico was a mental-health first responder at the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School. Federico saw the devastating effects of the shooting and the difficult fallout in the years that followed. She wanted to protect others from this type of experience but was unsure how.

Raising the Grade on Safety

Federico watched in horror as the Sandy Hook school shooting devastated the nation again in 2012. Ten days after the Newtown shooting, Federico wrote two children’s book as a school-violence-prevention tool that she believes has the power to save many lives.

The Bad Guys and Students Can Help Keep Schools Safe, self-published with WestBow Press, teach higher-level security measures by training students to notice who is in their school building and changes in classmates’ behaviors.

“Getting children to report suspicious behavior goes a long way to protecting schools. I believe that educating children can save lives and deflect further school violence,” said Federico.

Promoting Protection through Publishing

Throughout her career, Federico has written six children’s-services books and has been recognized with awards from the New England Book Festival and The Evvy Awards. She continues to spread awareness through speaking events, book signings and her website.

Readers, educators and parents can also connect with Federico on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and Pinterest.