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Jackie was born and raised in the heart of New Jersey. She decided early on that she wanted to be a teacher and earned
her B.A. in education from Rowan University. After a ten-year hiatus to raise her daughter and two sons, Jackie returned
to the classroom where, over the next twenty-five years, she taught in grades K,2,3,7,and 8. During that time, she had extensive
experience working with ADHD students. She was so interested in finding ways to help these students that she did her
Master's thesis on "Classroom Strategies to Help Improve Attentiveness in Students with ADD/ADHD." Her strategies
were so successful that she became the school's resident ADD/ADHD resource. For twelve years, she served on the Intevention
and Referral Services Team, a state-mandated unit to help at-risk students.
Jackie always
had a desire to write. She spent several years as an education stringer for the Courier Post, but
her real dream was to write a novel. She finally realized that dream after she retired from teaching and moved to Treasure
Island, a small beach town on the west coast of Florida. Jackie wanted to incorporate her experiences working with ADD/ADHD
students into a book that would combine the readibility of a novel and the elements of a self-help book. After three
years, Project June Bug was born.
Jackie may be retired, but she's busier than
ever. She is a featured columnist in The Island Reporter, a publication that serves the South Gulf Beaches of St.
Petersburg. In her spare time, she likes walking on the beach with her husband, John, playing with Bruno and Bear, her two
feisty macaws, fishing (catch and release, of course), boating, visiting her family in New Jersey, and spending time
with her four grandchildren. For relaxation, she enjoys reading and counted-cross stitch embroidery. She is also researching
ideas for a second "Jenna Bianchi" novel.
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