Why B.R.A.V.E.?

B.R.A.V.E. is our student leadership program focused on 1) student empowerment, 2) empathy activation, and 3) the SEL core competencies. It is designed to take young student leaders who can impact their school and build a culture and community of H.O.P.E. and Action through peer modeling, mentorship, and influence.

Bravery is perhaps the greatest skill children have lost with the gross reduction in play. According to Aristotle, being brave (possessing constant and consistent courage) is one of the greatest virtues! To be brave is to be ready or prepared to face and endure danger, fear, or difficulty; it is the possession of courage or courageous endurance. Courage is the mental or moral strength to take action and venture into the unknown, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty (stress).

The S.T.E.P. (Student-Teacher Empathy Program) Certification is our B.R.A.V.E. Youth Leadership System transitionary course. It is designed to empower high school students to become ambassadors of the Sweethearts & Heroes message and deliver it to younger students in a classroom setting engagingly and effectively, sparking the next generation to be the change and sustaining the organization’s message at a new level.

In accordance with research conducted by Dr. Peter Wyman at the University of Rochester, we know that peers who gain an understanding of healthy adaptive group norms will increase cohesion, morale, and positive bonding, lifting up individuals who are vulnerable to mental health problems. The social network modeling of the S.T.E.P. program shows that cohesive groups serve a protective regulatory function through norms and pressures to conform to behaviors designed to teach a younger generation how to reconcile cognitive difficulties specific to age levels and generationally specific cultural norms.

The program aligns with our mission to empower youth to be the change the world needs. It leverages the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), where older peers (More Knowledgeable Others or MKOs) scaffold learning for younger students.

Program Overview

  • Initial Discovery/Introduction Visit:

    • Selection of 15-20 high school student leaders who will participate in the program.

    • The selected students will be introduced to the program requirements during a one-day assembly visit.

    • They will participate in a Circle discussion to launch the program.

    • They will receive coursework, including watching the H.O.P.E. Series, Intro to H.O.P.E. Series, and S.T.E.P. videos with worksheets and lessons on developing presentation skills using the Feynman Technique.

  • Coursework Completion and Presentation Building:

    • Students will complete the initial coursework.

    • They will start building their presentations, practicing, and workshopping them.

  • Certification Visit(s):

    • Sweethearts & Heroes experts will conduct a certification visit, which may require two days to certify all student groups.

    • Students will present their tailored presentations to the experts for certification.

    • Alternatively, certification can be done off-site by having students record and submit their presentations for review.

  • Classroom Presentations:

    • After certification, students will deliver their presentations in pairs to individual elementary school classrooms (1st-5th grades).

    • Each group will likely need to complete 2-3 presentations, depending on the number of classrooms.

    • Once all elementary classrooms have been presented to, the S.T.E.P. will conclude by hosting a Spartan Race Community Day for all these elementary students and their families run by your S.T.E.P. students.

  • Transition to the B.R.A.V.E. Program:

    • After completing the S.T.E.P., the high school students will transition to the B.R.A.V.E. Program, where they will be paired with younger peer groups to run Circles and Bully Drills, continuing their role as peer mentors.

The B.R.A.V.E. experiential learning curriculum and system is built on spaced repetition. It gradually builds sustainable skills, embedding our methodology into school culture at every grade and age-group. Starting from simple Bully Drills and B.R.A.V.E. Circles, students progress yearly through new B.R.A.V.E. lessons focused on leadership values, social-emotional growth, and taking compassionate action. The goal is a school-wide cascade effect, where students learn collaboratively across ages. As students advance through the years, they eventually lead and administer the B.R.A.V.E. system for younger peers. Within a few years, the methodology reaches every student. All will know what it means to become BRAVE and serve as someone’s Sweetheart & Hero.

Foundational Texts

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School

Most of us have no idea what’s going on inside our heads. How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is it so easy to forget - and so important to repeat new information? In Brain Rules, molecular biologist Dr. John Medina shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. (B.R.A.V.E. 101)

Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

We’ve all seen the happiness on a child’s face while playing in the schoolyard. Or the blissful abandon of a golden retriever racing across a lawn. This is the joy of play. By definition, play is purposeless, all-consuming, and fun. But as Dr. Stuart Brown illustrates, play is anything but trivial. It is a biological drive as integral to our health as sleep or nutrition. We are designed by nature to flourish through play. (B.R.A.V.E. 101)

Attack of the Teenage Brain: Understanding and Supporting the Weird and Wonderful Adolescent Learner

Marvel at the neuroscientific reasons why smart teens make dumb decisions! Behold the mind-controlling power of executive function! Whether you're a parent interacting with one adolescent or a teacher interacting with many, you know teens can be hard to parent and even harder to teach. The eye-rolling, the moodiness, the wandering attention, the drama - it’s not you; it’s them. More specifically, it’s their brains. (B.R.A.V.E. 102; B.R.A.V.E. JRs)

13 Pillows for Affective Teachers

Bruce Brier, physical educator and wrestling coach at Warwick High, is on the verge of resigning after losing one of his athletes to suicide. But a mysterious janitor appears in his doorway just before handing in his resignation letter. The stranger offers his condolences but also an answer to everyone’s burning question: why did Bruce's star athlete take his own life? No matter what stage of the educating journey you find yourself in, be it a first-year teacher or a time-tested veteran, you’ll find yourself somewhere within these pages. (B.R.A.V.E. 103)

Programs & Classes

B.R.A.V.E. 6-Week (& Buddies) Program

Our B.R.A.V.E. 6-week program plants the seeds for a self-directed, self-controlled, student-led learning environment. The first day is our B.R.A.V.E. Training Day experience, during which we focus on the power of Circle and Bully Drills and discuss leadership and play. The following visits (5 in total) will involve growing the B.R.A.V.E. students in their Circle and Bully Drill abilities and working with their younger peers through age-mixed learning.

B.R.A.V.E. JRs Yearlong Class

Our B.R.A.V.E. JRs program is about helping 8th graders transition to high school as positive and responsible leaders. We want to help these young adults realize it’s okay not to grow up too quickly and that they can still access their youth and play. They will explore various units around brain structure and development, the importance of executive function, and how we learn best through behavior modeling and play.

B.R.A.V.E. 101 Yearlong Class

Our signature B.R.A.V.E. Youth Leadership class utilizes Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT) to educate students on the six core B.R.A.V.E. modules - Circles, Bully Drills, Empathy, Brain Rules, Leadership, and Play. This class is about building powerful relationships, taking control of your own education, and gathering strategies around leadership that will last a lifetime!

B.R.A.V.E. 102 Yearlong Class

For our second-year B.R.A.V.E. 102 high school program, your 101 graduates will become experts in Circle and dive deep into the ‘Human Skills’ (based on the original 5 SEL Core Competencies). They’ll work through Attack of the Teenage Brain to reflect on the development of adolescents and work with 8th graders as they become teenagers, helping them understand what their brains are going through.

B.R.A.V.E. 103 Independent Study

The last year of B.R.A.V.E. is about these seniors helping transition 9th-grade freshmen through their first year of high school by imparting their ‘expensive’ experience (experience that costs time and struggle) to these students, giving them ‘inexpensive’ experience (experience learned at another's expense). Your B.R.A.V.E. leaders will share their journey through high school to help guide new students and identify any who may want to join B.R.A.V.E. 101 the following year.