Tony Gaskin

My name is Anthony Gaskin, also known as Mr. Tony, I teach at the early elementary level, but a teacher to all ages. I graduated in 2017 from SUNY at Empire State College with a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Development. I decided to return to school after years of exploring and excavating the meaning of life or my idea of it, anyway, including years of extensive work in early childhood care and education. I have always been an academic with bold ideas and ambitions. My book is just not a book – it is part of a project to help usher in a new era of visuals for young people from diverse communities to help them see themselves in a positive light and engaging narratives.

My goals with this project? To create and develop characters and story lines that will include a diverse global framework to help contribute to the changing landscape of our world’s populations. Additionally, I seek to not only acknowledge our differences through visuals and social interactions in the book’s storyline, but to also foster acceptance that our differences and backgrounds are strengths not weaknesses. This will necessarily include children with physical challenges as well, who have far too long been left out of the collective narrative of learning and mainstream inclusion. I plan to continue my journey in this project, expanding the definition of inclusivity, by highlighting the empowerment and positive identities from marginalized communities in future writings