By Amy Edelstein, Founder & Executive Director
November has arrived with so much momentum and enthusiasm!
Usually I share a deeper reflection, but I’m so jazzed by everything that’s happening that I just want to share the good news and pass along this sense of what’s possible. In challenging times, when there’s so much noise, keeping our eyes on what we want the world to look like, on the gifts we have to share, and on our faith in the goodness of life (and each other) creates its own momentum.
So here’s some good news in brief.
700 students in weekly programs
Classes are well underway. We’re working with roughly 700 students each week, helping them learn and practice the skills for lifelong resilience, responsibility, and the readiness to engage with life as it is, fully and positively.
Our teaching team grows again
Please welcome Jackson, our newest instructor, who brings our teaching team to nine! We’re committed to reaching students in school, after school, through their sports leagues, and wherever young people gather in the city.
Inner Strength skills are profound and practical. They’re more than mindfulness. They open up a space of inquiry, curiosity, friendship, acceptance, and aspiration. We’re so proud of our team and our students. Everyone is learning from one another and growing together.
Our Digital Platform goes to school
My biggest news is that we set up at Carver High School of Engineering and Science with 25 rented laptops and our own enterprise-grade mobile hotspot. Then we invited teens (okay, bribed them with Cinnabons and big soft pretzels) to beta test our AI-assisted Digital Learning Platform. Test they did. The short version? “Yes! They want it. They liked it.” Look for the full story in an upcoming post.
Two very special guests
Inner Strength welcomed two fabulous guests recently, one on our podcast and one on a site visit to Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP).
Pat Croce is an Inner Strength supporter, renaissance man, consummate entrepreneur, former president of Philadelphia’s NBA team, the 76ers, and lit-up discoverer of Presence and Joy Without Cause. He joined our Conscious Classroom podcast to talk about how we cultivate inner strength. His new book, Enjoy Your Self Now!, is a powerful and delightful collection of 66 Sacred Shifts that, not surprisingly, align with the heart of Inner Strength’s approach.
Mike Tollin is the director and producer of seminal shows like The Last Dance (the untold story of Michael Jordan), a meditator, and an Inner Strength supporter. He shared his wisdom with students during one of our classes at GAMP. Thank you, Mike. The students loved hearing what brings true success.
With gratitude for our funders
Thank you to the foundations supporting our 12-week in-school program this fall:
- Caroline J.S. Sanders Trust, with deep thanks for a generous grant supporting programming in two Philadelphia high schools.
- Philadelphia Activities Fund, with much appreciation to Council Member Anthony Phillips for his belief in the importance of this work. We’re proud to have received a Philadelphia Activities Fund grant supporting our three-month program for 180 students at Philadelphia High School for Girls.
- The Berstein Family Foundation, with deep gratitude for another year of partnership supporting programming at Carver High School of Engineering and Science and Philadelphia High School for Girls. Your generosity in recent years has done so much to teach these students how to self-regulate, center, and explore. It will help them flourish and contribute for many years to come.
None of this could happen without people like you. If you could meet our students and see their shining faces and sparkling eyes as they explain why they feel met by Inner Strength, you’d have no doubt how much it means to them and how it frees their hearts and minds.
With love and gratitude,
Amy
