In honor of Read Across America in March, NJEA ACCESS Consultant Katherine Clark, who works regularly in support of programs at Monument Intermediate School in Trenton, reached out to a local author and arranged for her to speak to students. Teska Frisby is a Trenton resident, West Ward councilwoman and a published author.
Frisby has been an incredible asset to the Mercer County community for more than 17 years. Born in Jersey City to Ruth DeCosta and Charles Flowers Sr., she was raised in a single-parent household with her three siblings. It was from her mother that Teska learned the value of hard work and persistence.
Frisby is the mother of two children, one who has special needs and another who was growing his level of self-confidence. Frisby decided to become their voices. She has been a tireless advocate for children and the differently abled community. Because of the work that Frisby had done in this area of advocacy, Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson appointed her as chair of the Municipal American Disabilities Act Committee. Frisby resides in Trenton with her husband Samuel T. Frisby Sr., and their two sons, Samuel Jr. and Theodore.
In her book Different, Just Like You!, readers follow Samuel as he goes on his day-to-day journey. Samuel lives with Cerebral Palsy, but as readers soon discover, his life is no different from anyone else’s. He loves his family, has big goals and dreams, and he wants to be happy!
As part of the Read Across America event, Frisby spoke to three different groups of students so that the whole school would have a chance to interact with her. Frisby read excerpts from her book and talked about her life and her sons. At the end of each presentation, students had a chance to ask questions to find out more about how they might get started writing a book.
Katherine Clark is a consultant for the NJEA ACCESS program. Prior to embarking on a career at NJEA, Katherine served as an elementary and high school principal. Clark brings 30 years of experience as an educator, counselor, speech teacher and school administrator in various educational settings, including elementary, high school and post-secondary. She is most proud of her accomplishments for enhancing student achievement through parental involvement, teacher empowerment and professional development.
Clark currently serves as a school board member in the community where she resides.