As part of an ongoing partnership with the St. Regis Falls Central School District (CSD) and a Chevrolet dealer in Malone, an amazing superhero without a cape from “The World’s #1 Youth Leadership Team” has returned to the area.
Pat Fish of Sweethearts & Heroes visited the district on Wednesday, Jan. 14, supported by a sponsorship from Ellis Chevrolet. Sweethearts & Heroes works to prevent hopelessness, bullying and suicide by teaching human-centered skills such as empathy, compassion and teamwork.
Sweethearts & Heroes’ offers a vast menu of services, including:
•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;
•The Kennedy Columbus STEP Program (Student Teacher Empathy Program), which teaches high school students how to present Sweethearts & Heroes’ signature assemblies to students in grades K-2 and 3-5 in a small-group, classroom setting.
Sweethearts & Heroes’ central team of traveling presenters includes Fish, the team’s BRAVE & Circle Specialist. While in the St. Regis Falls CSD on Jan. 14, Fish started work on the BRAVE Youth Leadership System. He will return to the district on Jan. 27; Feb. 3, 11 and 24; and March 3.
Earlier this school year, Fish wove Circles with St. Regis Falls CSD students, a natural follow-up to the anti-bullying assemblies that Sweethearts & Heroes delivered to the district in 2024.
Abigail Rivers, a 10th-grade student participating in the BRAVE training, said working with Fish has been inspiring.
“Pat makes it easy and fun to understand the program,” Rivers said. “He uses games, activities and bully-drill simulations to keep us focused. We learned the ABC’s: Away, take the person away from the situation; Buddy, become friends with the person being bullied; Confront, stand up to the bully. I love teaching younger students how to prevent bullying.”
Ellis Automotive and The North Country Chevy Dealers are longtime supporters of Sweethearts & Heroes.
“Sweethearts & Heroes does powerful work helping students understand their value and the impact they have on one another,” said Jason Ellis, president of Ellis Automotive. “We are honored to support a program that encourages empathy, leadership and positive choices among local youth.”
For more than 16 years, Sweethearts & Heroes has presented what Director and Co-Founder Tom 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, both of Vermont, that covers the themes of HOPE, Empathy and Action in the Sweethearts & Heroes curriculum; and A Bridge Named Amos, by Sgt. Rick Yarosh, a Purple Heart recipient and Sweethearts & Heroes’ expert on HOPE. The book tells the heartwarming story of Yarosh’s 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.