Tom & Rick. Courtesy file photo.
Vermont Business Magazine September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and an amazing duo of superheroes without capes will be in Wells River to fill students and educators with HOPE (Hold On, Possibilities Exist).
Tom Murphy and Rick Yarosh, of Sweethearts & Heroes, will work at Blue Mountain Union School on Wednesday, Sept. 27 and Thursday, Sept. 28.
Sweethearts & Heroes is a student empowerment and empathy activation team that aims to prevent bullying and suicide with a focus on the basic components of social-emotional learning (SEL). Sweethearts & Heroes offers a profound, engaging signature presentation that calls for HOPE, Empathy and Action; Circle, which is built on the ancient ritual of communicating in a circle to build empathy; and BRAVES Buddies, which trains older students in bully drills that they, in turn, teach to students in lower grades.
The Sweethearts & Heroes team is: Tom Murphy, Director and Founder, of St. Albans, Vt.; Ret. U.S. Army Sgt. Rick Yarosh, a HOPE expert and motivational speaker from New York who was burned severely while serving in Iraq; and Pat Fish, BRAVES and Circle Leader. (For more on Circle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q286yIL9L1E)
While at Blue Mountain, Murphy and Yarosh will work according to these tentative schedules:
Sept. 27
7:45 a.m. — Grades 7-12 Assembly
9:45 a.m. — Grades PK-2 Assembly
11:50 a.m. — Grades 3-6 Assembly
Sept. 28
Rick Yarosh will lead student Q&A sessions throughout the day. Meanwhile, Tom Murphy will lead Circle activities in the library.
Wells River Chevrolet is sponsoring Sweethearts & Heroes’ school events in the Orange East Supervisory Union. The North Country Chevy Dealers is a strong and supportive partner of Sweethearts & Heroes.
Murphy said, “We’re heading to Wells River to cultivate compassion and empathy in classrooms — and beyond. We aim to stop students from making destructive decisions and help them treat each other with kindness. We also make our messages sustainable in schools, so that they have an eventual and sustainable effect on the local community. The spider web effect is powerful and incredible, and there is always HOPE for everyone.”
To ensure this sustainability, Sweethearts & Heroes 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 information visit: https://thehopeclassroom.com/.
In a joint statement, Blue Mountain Administrators Scott Blood (Elementary Principal) and Emilie Knisley (Grades 7-12 Principal) said, “Blue Mountain is thrilled to welcome Sweethearts & Heroes to our school community for another visit with our students. Supporting students’ social emotional growth and development is just as important as supporting their progress in literacy and math, and we are excited to partner with Sweethearts & Heroes on this work in our school community.
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 workshops for businesses, non-profits and civic groups. Murphy said, “We go where we’re needed. That’s what heroes do.”
In 2021, Sweethearts & Heroes released 13 Pillows For Affective Teachers, a novel that covers the themes of HOPE, Empathy and Action in the Sweethearts & Heroes curriculum. 13 Pillows is based on real students and teachers that Sweethearts & Heroes has encountered. Murphy cowrote the book with Brian McKeon, of New York. 13 Pillows is available on Amazon. Digital or printed copies are available upon request. The audiobook is on Audible. (On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/13Pillows)
For more information on Sweethearts & Heroes, visit: sweetheartsandheroes.com.
Or watch these short, impactful trailers:
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetheartsandheroes/
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChmbRNNgpGWkMRIUxSS-bGg
WELLS RIVER, Vt. –– Sweethearts & Heroes
