( ENSPIRE Community Spotlight ) The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, an Organization Founded after Sandy Hook, Expands its Efforts to Create the Choose Love During the Coronavirus Program
ENSPIRE Contributor: Amanda Hirsch
2020 marks eight years since the worst school shooting the United States has ever seen. What happened at Sandy Hook elementary was arguably one of the most horrific events of this decade that warranted more attention to the crime of school shootings. Born from the fear and anxiety that this event incited was a community of parents and children who would advocate for more school security, tighter firearm regulations, and education in schools on social-emotional intelligence. Scarlett Lewis is the mother of one of the victims, six-year-old Jesse Lewis, who showed strength and motivation to make a change after the fact by creating a non-profit called the Choose Love Movement.
Determined to not sit idle after the life-altering loss of her son, Scarlett founded The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement to not only help families who have endured a similar experience but also to prevent things like this from happening more often. Her goal was to educate the public while creating a loving environment that would block out hate.
Jesse Lewis Choose Movement is a non-profit organization with the mission of creating safer school environments at no cost through social-emotional learning with the intent to reduce the risk of violence. The movement’s signature program is the Choose Love Enrichment Program (CLEP). CLEP is an infant-toddler and pre-k to 12th-grade character development and social-emotional learning program that teaches educators and their students how to always choose love over hate and violence. The ultimate goal is to foster a school and classroom environment that promotes feelings of safety, nurturing, connectedness, and empowerment for children and teens.
Since Sandy Hook, Scarlett has dedicated her life to the Choose Love Movement which includes character emotional intelligence, neuroscience, and mindfulness. It teaches the core competencies and skills that can empower us to thrive emotionally, mentally, personally, and socially. The no-cost lifespan program has been downloaded in all 50 states and in 100 countries.
The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement is the only organization that offers no-cost lifespan programming. Programs include Choose Love for Home, Choose Love for Schools, Choose Love for Communities, Choose Love for the Workplace, and Choose Love for Athletes. Scarlett has partnered with The Tapping Solution, Zensational Kids, Touch Matters, and Grow and Guide Kids to offer even more resources.
When COVID-19 took over our lives, Scarlett used her transferrable lifespan programming knowledge to help people through this tough time. She just launched her Choose Love During the Coronavirus Program which is a no-cost lifespan social-emotional learning (SEL) platform that provides essential life skills that are especially poignant in the time of COVID-19. To help deal with escalated anxiety, this platform provides resources to support the psychological well-being of parents, children, caregivers, and educators on how to cope with anxiety, foster healthy relationships, manage emotions, and make responsible decisions.
Through the tragedy of Sandy Hook, Scarlett was able to realize her true purpose and spread love, positivity, and a deeper understanding of social and emotional intelligence. Helping us through this pandemic is just one of the many things that Scarlett has done. Jesse Lewis’s legacy will be one of love, kindness, and compassion thanks to his mother, the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, and everyone who has been inspired by it.
For more information on the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, visit the website here.
