Being a kid has never been easy, but being a kid in 2020 is perhaps one of the most challenging times to-date. From poverty and racism to loneliness and mental illness, kids today are facing many hardships.
But even when facing the most difficult situations, it’s important to remember: Kids are not alone, as others have gone through similar struggles.
kid-grit: The Book highlights 25 stories of young people across the country who have successfully overcome challenges and obstacles throughout their elementary and high school years and who are now in college, in the workforce or in a graduate program.
Their stories are sometimes painful, but they have persevered — they have graduated and become successful young contributors in the 21st century in school, in work and in life. They now offer their words of wisdom to the next generation.
“When we conceptualized this project, it was essential to us that student voices be represented,” said Julia Gabor, Mindful Founder, kid-grit. “We wanted people to hear the voices of our youth, especially in the areas of social-emotional learning, mindfulness, youth development and character education.”
Together, she and Jeffrey L. Jordan, Mindful Co-Founder, kid-grit, collected the stories from students they have taught, mentored or coached over the last five to 15 years.
“We could not be more thrilled to provide our former students with the opportunity to share their stories and use these writings as an opportunity for helping others,” Jordan said. “We believe these essays show what true character, resilience and grit looks like.”
These young adults have overcome challenges such as abandonment, poverty, abuse, addiction, anxiety, racism, issues with sexuality, poor self esteem, mental illness, violence and more. While any one of these issues could be a recipe for failure, these young people share their personal experiences on how they persevered.
From an educator standpoint, kid-grit can be used to engage middle and high school students in important and timely conversations about their own social-emotional growth and how to successfully navigate the challenges they face. A one-hour interactive training is available to accompany the book.
To learn more or to purchase a copy of kid-grit, visit https://www.kid-grit.
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Meet Julia
Julia Gabor, Mindful Founder, kid-grit, is an award-winning educator from New York City who now resides in Los Angeles, California. With a master’s degree in educational leadership, Gabor has spent the last 17 years working with organizations such as the LA-All Stars, TGR Foundation and WRiTE BRAiN BOOKS. Throughout her career, Gabor has helped more than 55,000 students become published authors; she has managed a mentor program for first-generation college students; and she has developed and taught a wide range of educational programs and activity-based curriculum. In only two and half years, kid-grit is supporting over 17 states with social and emotional curriculum, training thousands of educators nationwide and has become a solution provider for schools and organizations during COVID-19 in health and wellness strategies for staff and students.
Meet Jeffrey
Jeffrey L. Jordan, Mindful Co-Founder, kid-grit, is an entrepreneur, a coach and a national speaker from Bayon, New Jersey. With a mission of personal empowerment and life balance for people of all ages, Jordan has built several businesses, including a holistic health, wellness and life-coaching practice. During his time as Associate Director of Athletics at New Jersey City University and CEO of Sportika Sports, Jordan implemented comprehensive approaches to developing young student-athletes by focusing not only on their physical skills, but their intellect and emotion as well. Additionally, Jordan founded the GoodWorx Foundation in 2005, which has helped hundreds of children and young athletes with mentoring and life skills.
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