ALBANY, NY — The media is invited to witness “The World’s #1 Youth Leadership Team” return to the Capital Region with messages about HOPE (Hold On, Possibilities Exist), Action and Empathy for students at Academy of the Holy Names.
Tom Murphy & Sgt. Rick Yarosh, of Sweethearts & Heroes, will be at the Capital Region’s only all-girls, private, independent Catholic school on Thursday, November 13 at 8:00 a.m. Sweethearts & Heroes aims to prevent hopelessness, bullying, and suicide by providing dynamic, inspiring content that centers on the human interaction skills necessary for schools and other organizations to change all aspects of their culture — skills such as empathy, compassion, and teamwork.
Sweethearts & Heroes’ vast menu of services includes:
- a profound, engaging signature presentation that calls for HOPE (Hold On, Possibilities Exist), Empathy and Action;
- Circle, which is built on the ancient ritual of communicating in a circle to build compassion and empathy;
- the BRAVE Youth Leadership System, which trains older students in bully drills that they, in turn, teach to students in lower grades, thus creating a sustainable, student-directed initiative;
- and The Kennedy Columbus STEP Program (Student Teacher Empathy Program), which teaches high school students how to present Sweethearts & Heroes’ signature assemblies for students in grades K-2 and 3-5.
Sweethearts & Heroes’ central team of traveling presenters includes Murphy, Director and Founder, of St. Albans, VT; Yarosh, a HOPE expert, Purple Heart recipient and motivational speaker from New York who was burned severely while serving in Iraq; and Pat Fish, BRAVE & Circle Specialist. Josiah McKeon and Chad Althiser are also on the traveling team.
On Thursday, November 13 at 8:00 a.m., Murphy and Yarosh will deliver their anti-bullying assembly to Academy of the Holy Names students and then introduce them to The Magic Of Circle.
The Albany County Legislature, in conjunction with the Albany County Department of Mental Health, Albany County Department of Children, Youth and Families and the Albany County Executive’s Office made available $100,000 in funding to support anti-bullying and youth violence prevention programming.
“We are grateful to Albany County Legislator Andrew Joyce for his support which helped secure grant funding for this programming,” said Dr. Martin Kilbridge, AHN’s President. “Our school theme this year is ‘Created with Purpose, Called to Belong’ and we can think of no better message to promote as we empower our young women to be kind and empathetic leaders.”
For more than 16 years, Sweethearts & Heroes has presented what Murphy calls “‘the ‘stop, drop and roll’ of bullying” to more than 2.5 million students in school districts from New England to Hawaii and north into Canada. Sweethearts & Heroes also tailors its presentations and professional development workshops for businesses, non-profits and civic groups. Murphy said, “We go where we’re needed. That’s what heroes do.”
Sweethearts & Heroes’ books are Boredom School: For Those Bored in School, a collection of captivating, humorous and thought-provoking poems by Fish; 13 Pillows For Affective Teachers, a novel by Murphy and Brian McKeon — also of Vermont — that covers the themes of HOPE, Empathy and Action in the Sweethearts & Heroes curriculum; and A Bridge Named Amos, by Sgt. Yarosh, a heartwarming story about his late service dog and personal hero, Amos.
Sweethearts & Heroes has also created The HOPE Classroom, a digital subscription service designed for various grade levels and different school sizes. This value-packed offering can allow Sweethearts & Heroes to be in every school in the U.S. For more on Sweethearts & Heroes, find them here on social media.