After years of working to develop a school culture around GRIT and a growth mindset, the principal at Stapleton Elementary School was looking for an effective curriculum to support their efforts.

Both the district and the elementary school are focused on educating the whole child. Yet, instilling a growth mindset and getting students to take ownership for their learning remained difficult. “I was trying to find a way to help kids develop belief in themselves — an ‘I can’ mentality. The ability to self-regulate, control one’s emotions and develop confidence is key to success in life.”

Stapleton Elementary is a K-6 rural elementary school in Alabama with limited resources, and teachers stretched too thin. The principal wanted to make things easier for his teachers while increasing student wellbeing, motivation, perseverance and self-regulation.

School Goals: Implement techniques and lessons that help students self-regulate when faced with big feelings and provide a common language to inspire students to take ownership for their learning. 

Partnering with EmpowerU naturally aligned with the school culture, so it was an easy lift for teachers. Teacher-led, 20-minute lessons include videos with characters kids come to love, share-time, journals and self-reflective questions deepen learning.

“Just the name, EmpowerU, aligned with everything we want for our students in life: self-control, self-regulation, self-belief, self-efficacy.” Learning about calming, how to stamp out ANTs [automatic negative thoughts] and how to tackle things like procrastination — working through things they are trying to avoid. Understanding your inner coach and your inner critic — these are tools that students need to be successful every day in school and life. 

Wildly popular with both teachers and students, EmpowerU lessons and techniques, such as ’Take Charge,’ ‘Goal-Setting,’ ‘Self-Hug,’ and ‘Square Breathing’ teach universal strategies at age six or 60. To have children learn these essential skills at such a young age has made all the difference.

 In their first year partnering with EmpowerU, Stapleton Elementary saw success beyond expectations. It’s been an easy lift and personally impactful for teachers as well.

In an EmpowerU course, students work towards goals in four areas — personal, emotional, social and academic. The school now has a common language, the principal reinforces the learning during assemblies and everyday conversations, and you hear students talking about taking charge of their thoughts and calming tools as they walk in the halls.

Pre- and Post-Surveys showed improvement in ‘Confidence and Friendships,’ ‘Emotional Regulation,’ ‘Controlling My Thoughts,’ and ‘Persistence and Problem-Solving.’ Students are demonstrating confidence. As teachers become more comfortable with the lessons, EmpowerU is strengthening the school culture.