The Richard Gazzola Teacher Center of Yonkers, New York, a school district serving 32,000 students, announces its first in-service Author Study program for high school English teachers with author Laura Fahrenthold’s new book, THE PINK STEERING WHEEL CHRONICLES.

The program is designed to improve teacher effectiveness in the ever-changing classroom by providing reading and writing workshops to students in the district’s public high schools. English teachers will explore the Common Core/Next Generation Writing Standards and the importance of using writing as a vehicle for instruction during the five-part program running March 14, 2019 through National Library Day, April 9, 2019.

“While reading and writing is fundamental throughout our schools, this is a special initiative to further engage and develop students’ reading and writing skills through the study of Ms. Fahrenthold’s acclaimed memoir,” says Yonkers Federation of Teachers Special Areas Vice-President Lia Council. “This is a great way to engage both teachers and students through real-life learning.”

The author is a former NY Daily News crime reporter, government press secretary and long-time editor at Woman’s World Magazine. The 304-page book presents a moving portrait of marriage, motherhood and mourning as Fahrenthold captains a 1993 RV 31,152 miles across North America sprinkling her late-husband journalist Mark Pittman’s ashes with their two teenage daughters and a stray dog in an epic quest for healing and understanding.

Filled with insight and laugh-out-loud wit, the true story captures their adventures and misadventures, a deeply-layered family story, and slice-of-life dispatches where the pink steering wheel becomes their spiritual GPS.

“The story is a heart-tugger and hitting home with readers of all ages,” says Hatherleigh Press Publisher Andrew Flach in conjunction with Penguin Random House. “We hope for the book to become a national model for high school and college students everywhere to learn the art of expository writing through this well-crafted and very relatable story.”

“It’s such an honor to have my book chosen and to work directly with the teachers and students,” says Fahrenthold. “Everyone has a story within. It’s a matter of finding your voice and not being afraid to use it to write, write, write away!”