Book Viral Review
“In Raising Jesca, Shana Marie Gilbert delivers a deeply personal and profoundly moving memoir that chronicles her journey from high school literature teacher and filmmaker to adoptive mother and advocate. It is not simply the story of one woman’s adoption journey—it is a testament to faith, resilience, and the transformative power of love when placed in the service of others.” READ FULL ARTICLE
Author
When an African orphan girl, Jesca, loses her mom to street life, she coincidentally & miraculously meets an American teacher and documentarian in Kampala, Uganda. Together, they traverse the world in search of the best education and experiences to combat the childhood trauma that comes with street life. Their book, Raising Jesca, both inspires us toward radical choices and challenges our resilience toward doing hard things.
“Raising Jesca stood out for its narrative depth, craftsmanship, and its ability to engage readers with confidence and originality.”
~ John Reese | of The BookViral team
Speaker
Shane loves a good opportunity to tell stories. Simply invite her to join your event, school, house party, she'll have a really hard time saying 'no'! She used to travel the country showing a film and discussing the failure of foreign aid, but now she'll talk filmmaking, international adoption, and all the great work God
is doing around the world. This season the big issues are child sacrifice in Uganda which is her new film, Sacrifice, hoping to be a megaphone for the kids, and this current Jesus revival spreading around the globe for the GenZ generation hungry for something real!
SPEAKING TOPICS:
Adoption as Life-Long Learning
Flipping the Script on Childhood Trauma (ie. memory loss), from Obstacle to Super-power
Culture, Skin Color, Diverse Experiences only enhance education, not hinder it.
Interested in hiring Shane & Jesca for a school event?
We use Poetry for all your literacy issues -- rhymes and beats and famous poets -- all of it. We'll read, write, recite, but most importantly, we'll laugh, relax our brains, and fall in-love with learning, again.
Educator
Columbia University,
MA in Teaching EnglishTexas Christian University,
BA in Creative Writing & World Religions
I've been a high school English & Film teacher most of my life, and I love it!
At present, you'll find me at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, CO.
Raising Jesca is really my teacher-mom's homage to the entire world of people who helped me raise my daughter, Jesca. All the teachers out there who truly see their students, go to the brink, and inspire each life to new heights, thank you! I'm very proud to call myself an educator.