MINNEAPOLIS, MINN (August 26, 2020) —EmpowerU, a Minnesota-based company focused on supporting student mental health through social-emotional learning, is joining forces with Northern Star Online and Minnesota Virtual Schools to make its supported e-Learning course available free of charge to all Minnesota students struggling with anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns. Students can take the course as a credit-bearing elective health and wellness online class when they include it as part of their regular school day.
EmpowerU uniquely aligns embedded 1:1 therapeutic online coaching with critical daily resilience skill-building lessons, customized to each student’s unique struggles and goals. This highly personalized approach results in better school performance, healthy habit change, increased confidence and greater emotional well-being.
Research shows that 1 in 3 students struggle with a mental health concern. This pandemic of student anxiety is amplified by social media, COVID-19, distance learning, and social unrest. A recent study showed that 50% of students are afraid and uncertain about the upcoming school year and need tools to stay focused, motivated and calm. The EmpowerU course can be accessed from anywhere, at any time, making it especially useful to students throughout Greater Minnesota who are learning remotely or in a hybrid model this school year.
EmpowerU was developed by three Minnesota therapists who saw the need in their daily practices for a solution that combined education and therapy. The approach helps student apply the content of each daily lesson to the challenges in their lives. An independent evaluation of EmpowerU’s solution found that:
- 85% of students complete the EmpowerU course, compared to 5-30% for other online solutions.
- 93% of students make significant pre to post-course gains in confidence, coping and persistence, which translates into increased grades and attendance.
- 98% of students made significant, measurable growth in goals, which builds student momentum and motivation.
- 99% of students would recommend EmpowerU to a friend or classmate.
“The relevant mental health content combined with daily therapist support helped our students make significant gains in emotional wellbeing,” says Bill Glenz, principal of Minnesota Virtual Schools. “We were so encouraged by the progress our students made, we decided to offer EmpowerU as a course so students can gain the strategies they need to improve their mental health.”
How to Enroll
All Minnesota students can enroll in the EmpowerU course as part of their regular school day at no additional cost by adding simply add it to their course load at their home school if they have one open period. (If they have no open periods, they can still sign up for the credit-bearing course through Northern Star Online)
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About Empower U
EmpowerU’s highly personalized, online SEL program helps young people replace anxiety and depression with resilience and confidence, fueling student transformation without a heavy lift on staff or need for additional hires. The program provides each student with interactive lessons and personalized coaching, pairing technology with brain research in a unique way that supports students and empowers their growth. Multi-year data makes it clear: nobody understands Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and approaches SEL the way EmpowerU does.