What is Empowerment?
Empowerment is a social skills curriculum developed for use with students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities in St. Paul Public Schools.
It is an approach to people and behavior that is founded on the belief that each person has core value - a universal birthright meaning that every person is lovable, important, and valuable regardless of a their behavior or any other personal characteristics.
Read more about Empowerment.
Use & Copyright
Many of the posts on this website are intended for use in Empowerment groups in Saint Paul Public Schools. Therefore access is limited.
All lessons are under copyright by Saint Paul Public Schools' Empowerment. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Supplemental Lessons Archive
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Mary J. Blige Video
This is a video of Mary J. Blige talking about her childhood, past addiction, and current effort to help those in her childhood neighborhood. Three Lesson Ideas are included: Core Hurts, Weak Mode/Power Mode; Looking Within; Core Value. (These are the same lessons printed in the Mary J. Blige 60 Minutes Interview.) -
Mary J Blige- Life Story (Article)
Mary J Blige's life story reveals numerous examples of core hurts, how she coped in unhealthy ways (weak mode), healthy ways (power mode), and her strong belief in taking personal responsibility (looking within.) A transcript from a 60 Minutes interview is included. Three lesson plans included: Core Hurts/Weak Mode/Power Mode; Looking Within; Core Value -
World Class Violinist (Subway) – State of Mind (Part 1)
Video of Jonathan Bell, world class violinist, playing in the Washington DC subway stations. Lesson plan on State of Mind included. -
World Class Violinist (Concert Hall)- State of Mind (Part 2)
Joshua Bell, an award-winning, world class Violinist, performs "Summer" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons Concerto. State of Mind Lesson included. Students compare beliefs, thoughts, feelings, behavior about his playing by comparing the video in the subway station to this concert video. -
Prisoner Writing Program at Stillwater Prison
Prisoner Writing Program at Stillwater Prison Deborah Appleman didn’t ask her students what they had done, because she knew they had done terrible things. “Every single other person in their lives — from their lawyers, to their parole officers, to their families, to the guards — viewed them as inmates,” she said. “The one important [...] -
Paraplegic Surfer Video- Power Mode or State of Mind
Lesson Plan Ideas: This could be used as power mode or state of mind lesson. Encourage the students to define why it’s power mode and explore how his life would have been if he was in weak mode. State of Mind Circle would be a great way to break out his Beliefs/Thoughts (attitude) would affect [...] -
Prison Hospice Program- Core Value/Power Mode (Newspaper Article)
Inmate in a New York prison volunteer to sit with fellow prisoners in the last six months of their lives to provide comfort and support so that the ill inmate doesn't die alone. -
Homeless Choir Video- Power Mode & Core Value
Lesson Ideas: -
Bullet Proof Video – Power Mode
Award winning documentary about Richmond California "tent city." Residents took over 3 dangerous public parks by creating "tent cities" as a stand against the violence. The video is primarily told through the voices of young children. -
Together (A Song for Haiti)
Moved by the tragedy in Haiti, students from Hip Hop High created this song & video. Example of Power Mode and Core Value.