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<<First Name *>> Greetings!
So many things to celebrate. We just marked the end of our 4th fiscal year with so much to be proud of. This year really saw deepening of the programs in schools, expanding of our program offerings to serve students in different ways, and also to support their teachers who also carry so much stress. I am thrilled to see the Inner Strength model being recognized by schools for its "school-wide" potential. The principals contacting us for next year's programming are now looking for whole school supports--from assemblies to classroom programs to teacher self-care and more.
As I walk around the city thinking about how to translate our lessons learned into even better programming next year, I scan the faces of the throngs of teenagers on streets, to see if any of were in my classes this year and to find out how they might be using the meditations now that they are in the open space of summer break.
One big highlight this year was the teen leadership program envisioned and led by two of our talented instructors Julie Coopersmith and Debbie Wigrizer. They took a seed of an ideal and grew it into 7 beautiful teens. These young people now carry themselves with confidence and humility and focus on what they can share with others.
Sanctuary Rooms took a big step forward, two fully launched, hosting classes, providing a physical and mental space for self-regulation, calm, and restorative practice.
Homework . . . good and bad. While some students groaned about having homework in mindfulness class, some cleverly arguing that it was counter to the relaxation they were learning, more homework this year produced some marvelous essays and kindness practices. Out of that, has come the plan to conduct a mindfulness essay/spoken word contest next school year. Contests sound better than end of year essay anyway, we'll award prizes to the winners. And we'll be able to share the best of with you!
How far have we come?
We have now trained 6,000 students, across 13 schools, in 224 classrooms, delivering a total of 2172 lessons!
A few highlights from this past month. For the first time, we qualified for Pennsylvania Education Improvement Tax Credits. This means PA businesses can donate to us and receive significant tax breaks, 75% for up to $750,000 per year. Our asks are quite modest compared to the limit, but if you are a business owner in Pennsylvania and would like to connect, please reply and we will call you. As we reached out to 40 businesses in our area, we were so uplifted by the interested responses we received. I love to see business-student partnerships. This builds bridges to a productive and positive future for so many of our kids.
And on that note, let me thank all of you who generously donated to help build the Inner Strength mobile app. We are moving towards to our goal steadily. Very exciting. I have no doubt this addition will be a game changer over time since it will allow students to communicate about Inner Strength matters with classmates, across schools. There's a lot of creative content to build and pull together a team of Student Content Editors. Every donation, large or small gets us closer to being able to start this project. If you haven't helped yet, please give a small gift and be part of the digital 'barn-raising.' If everyone gifts the cost of their next iced latte to help the students get an Inner Strength mobile app, we'll make it to our goal in no time!
On a personal front, I had the good fortune of being able to re-visit India, Dharamsala to be precise, a couple weeks ago. For me it was a bit of a homecoming, having spent formative time there in the early 1980s. Being there again was deeply moving and renewing. I had time to reflect, contemplate, and discover new insights. I walked in the mountains, and met up with old friends I hadn't seen for 33 years. I also got to do some great meditation led by the Dalai Lama. Thoroughly restful and inspiring. I encourage you to be passionate in your relaxation this summer. Good things happen when we frame the context of our lives with meaning and purpose.
Wishing you well and thank you for your ongoing connection,
Warmly,
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Ford Foundation: Youth, Mindfulness & Social Justice
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Inner Strength was invited to send two people to participate in the first small working conference at the Ford Foundation for Social Research in New York on Youth, Mindfulness, and Social Justice. We gathered in the gorgeous building near the UN, looking down from the 10th floor on an indoor garden, complete with reflective pool and trees, to discuss and explore important themes, pushing forward the edge of the field. I'll keep you posted if reports are made public. There was some good work done by some very insightful, caring, and experienced people.
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Summer Break: Conscious Endings
The end of the school year is often a mixed blessing for kids – the promise of summer vacation, no more homework, rising to the next grade. Too often, the cloud of testing looms large over students and coming to the end of the school year brings more of an experience of anxiety rather than one of accomplishment. In this session, you’ll learn ways to support your students to do their best and to gain confidence from the learning and victories they’ve had over the entire year.
If you missed this month's webinar, click here to receive access to the audio for perspectives and practices to support the best in teens.
— ACCESS THE WEBINAR AUDIO
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Welcome New Board Members
Join me in extending a very warm welcome to Cindy Leavitt, CIO of Temple University who is joining the Inner Strength Board. We look forward to learning from and working with Cindy. She brings enthusiasm and passion and an incredible wealth of knowledge in leadership training, team management, technology, and systems. She's already full of ideas of ways we can connect our students with students at Temple.
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A very warm welcome also to Stephen Gross, Wealth Manager and Investment Advisor. Stephen is not only an experienced and dedicated meditator, he has served on several educational boards, including as Board Chair for ten years for a Edgewater, NJ school district. He has been an enthusiastic supporter of Inner Strength for years and we look forward to learning and growing from all his experience.
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Inner Strength Volunteers!
On Saturday, June 29th, the ISF team (and a few family and friends!) volunteered at WHYY Radio's June Membership Campaign event. We answered phones from 7:30am - 12pm in support of WHYY programming. If you heard ISF mentioned on air, drop us a line, we hope that there was time to give Inner Strength a shout out.
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