Teach the Children Peace Foundation was created by experienced educators and counselors who on a daily basis are confronted with children in pain and in conflict. As a result, our goal is to give children the skills and tools needed to bring resolution to conflict through nonviolent methods.
Board Members
Silvia Perchuk
Silvia has 20 years of experience as an Elementary School teacher, Instructional Reading Coach and Bilingual Coordinator for the Los Angeles Public School. After retiring from the LAUSD, Silvia began to work with young teachers as a Mentor and Support Provider for the UCLA Extension Teacher Credential Program. For 3 years, Silvia also volunteered for the NCJW’s “Homework Club” afterschool program where she tutored Elementary School students in English and Math.
Silvia’s firm belief is that only through the education of our youth, can we eliminate the ignorance that fosters hatred among people. She is most concerned with helping our youth acquire the understanding and life skills needed to take responsibility for both their own lives and the lives of others.
Seeing the positive changes in the lives of children after they are given the tools to succeed, Silvia created Teach the Children Peace Foundation to help in the transformation of our world into one of caring, sharing, and peace for all.
Sherri Jaye
Sherri Jaye has pursued a career in the mental health field, using her therapeutic and counseling skills to foster resiliency, to serve and inspire success in children and their families in multiple environments and cultures.
Sherri is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and is a credentialed school counselor. Sherri’s specialties include assisting parents and school staff with overcoming and addressing student educational challenges. Sherri has also coordinated group counseling and crisis counseling for families with acute needs.
For 8 years she was co-chairperson for the annual Best Practices in Counseling Resource Fair. She currently has been working as an Attendance Improvement Counselor for the past 8 years in the Los Angeles School District. She works with the kindergarten children and their parents striving to improve their attendance. She conducts parent meetings and finds innovative ways to educate the children and parents and make coming to school fun and joyful. She also teaches a very important social/emotional anti-bullying program to the students in both of the schools she serves.
Sherri has 4 beautiful children, 6 gorgeous grandchildren, and 2 precious dogs. In her spare time, she is also a hairdresser and a Certified LifeMastery Consultant. She coaches people to achieve their life goals and dreams by teaching seminars, workshops, conducting Mastermind groups, and providing individual coaching. She loves walking and playing with her poodles, practicing yoga and eating and cooking healthy clean food.
Karen Timko
Karen Timko has served children and families as a teacher for 6 years followed by 24 years of service to the Los Angeles Unified School District as a school psychologist, organization facilitator of school-community partnerships, and administrator of counseling programs.
From a very early age, Karen advocated for youth in out-of-home placements and became a guardian to two amazing children. She and her children endured a bitter custody battle that resulted in deepening her commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of foster care youth. She is currently writing a book about this experience that she hopes will inspire others to stay lovingly connected to their children despite all obstacles and to influence change to the current legal processes that often perpetuate violence rather than facilitating healing and peace for children and their caregivers. Currently, her home is a multi-cultural safe haven of unconditional love and enthusiastic support for her young adult children, 3 adored grandchildren, and a houseful of their friends who bless her heart with joy every single day. She truly believes that World Peace is possible and is excited to be part of making it happen through the collective work of the Teach the Children Peace Foundation.
Jo Anne Johnson
Jo Anne is retired after 20 plus years in the Healthcare Information Technology field. She has always been in a groundbreaking role of being one of the first females to pursue typically male oriented jobs. She achieved her success in this area by proving her value to large enterprise healthcare organizations.
Jo Anee has worked for Kaiser Permanente in many different roles, recently served as the director of the Next Generation of Medical Office innovation projects. She has managed teams of over 100 people. Jo Anne states that her success was primarily based on developing great relationships with everyone with whom she has worked and bringing people together to reach consensus in order to achieve their mutual goals. She has mentored numerous younger females to show them how to thrive in any environment.
Jo Anne has both a daughter and son living nearby as well as a beautiful granddaughter just graduating from college and about to embark on her own aspirations.
In retirement, Jo Anne can’t wait to begin helping others achieve their own goals.
Felicia Lopez
Felicia has 40 years of experience teaching languages at the High School and Elementary levels. She also oversaw a 3rd grade multicultural program at the Santa Monica School District. Finally, she taught English Language Development to students who were recent immigrants and Second Language Learners. As a Reading Specialist she helped students to dramatically improve their reading skills.
Felicia feels strongly that communicating with parents is essential for the success of their children. She believes that our world faces many challenges today and it is necessary to communicate with parents and children in order to overcome those challenges. Positive interactions and love are most important in fostering a better future for our children.