Through the practice of five secular mindfulness practices, young people learn to attend to what they are doing and feeling in the present moment. While young people already have the capacity to be present, these practices will help them bring more awareness and care into their daily experiences. In time and with practice, these evidence-based practices are proven techniques to help train attention, manage emotions, reduce reactivity, and cope with stress.

This module focuses on the development of the five key Social and Emotional Learning domains including, Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision-Making. Through the use of conversation starters, participant(s) learn to express their views, listen to the insights of others, think critically, and make deliberate choices to act with kindness and concern for the world that surrounds them.

This learning module inspires conversations that address relevant themes and real-world issues that touch on our common humanity. Imbedded in each activity are videos that share a particular story illustrating important human qualities and challenges that have shaped the story-tellers’ lifetime. By touching on issues of stereotypes, race, ethnicity, challenge and bias, these narratives create a forum for discussion surrounding issues of empathy, kindness and appreciation for diversity.

The activity’s themes and writing assignments in this module inspire young people to reflect, question identity and actions while opening up channels of understanding and empathy cross social boundaries. The overarching intention is to invite young people to explore what’s relevant in their life circumstance, as well as muster the courage to forge a new path with compassionate understanding for the diverse world in which they live.

In this series of me-to-we activities and assignments, young people explore the ways in which individual and collective action affect the world in which they live. The intention is that individuals recognize their ability and power to become champions for positive social change and employ the critical thinking and goal setting skills needed to make a difference. With conversation starters designed to develop a mindset for trailblazing, participants will experience a lived example in contributing to the betterment of humanity.