What's Next

by JoVonna Rodriguez

We are middle students exploring the realms of time. We are on a journey of examination and understanding our emotions, thoughts and visions. This is our voice. We are active in our efforts and approach to make this world better. We believe it starts with us.This is our voice. We may not realize our impact now, but we know it will make a difference later. We are questioning our beliefs, values, and character. We are the students of today. We are the leaders of tomorrow. Theses are our responses, these are our feelings, this book represents us. This is our voice. Every day our teacher prompts us to write in our journals. All of the topics are thought provoking and enriching, ranging from our everyday activities to what do you see when you look in the mirror. In our efforts to share our journals with others, we created a class blog, www.wtnxt.blogspot.com. In class, we have share sessions and then vote on whose post will go on the blog. Our end of the year project was to help turn our blog into this collection. This is our voice.

134 pages, Paperback

Published May 13, 2011

About the author

JoVonna Rodriguez is finally exploring her appreciation for life through writing. Originally from Rochester, NY, she moved to Atlanta to pursue an education; graduating with a Bachelor’s in History from Emory University. In the mist of finding her professional path, she finally embraced her vocational passion of writing.

Finding her work to be more than personal therapy but a necessity for survival, she began to share her poetry on various sites branded by the alias: Joski Diesel. With the support of friends, the power of social media, the knowledge to set things in motion, and the determination to accomplish her goals, she launched her blog to showcase her talents and thoughts: www.joskidiesel.com.

Her love for expression is rooted in a love for community, service, and fellowship. As an AmeriCorps alum, she has continued to serve the Atlanta community, schools, and students. Her efforts helped fuel an after school enrichment program targeting at risk middle school females and a blog to showcase her one of her class’ written work. This blog has become a book entitled ‘What’s Next’.

JoVonna currently teaches middle school and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Teaching. She prides herself in being an educator who is no longer afraid to embrace her love for writing in every class. She released her first collection of poetry, Pronouns, in early 2011. JoVonna and her love, Jerome Dickens, are working on their next project, Love Taps, due out Valentines Day 2012. In addition, they are working on establishing a literacy consultant business, Literacy Lives, in the days to come.