Submitted Photo Rick Yarosh, left, and Tom Murphy, right, of Sweethearts & Heroes will present to the Silver Creek Central School District on Thursday. Yarosh is a Purple Heart recipient and now serves as a motivational speaker.

SILVER CREEK — The Silver Creek Central School District will welcome Rick Yarosh and Tom Murphy of Sweethearts & Heroes on Thursday and Friday to share a message of “HOPE” throughout the District.

Sweethearts & Heroes is a student empowerment and empathy activation team that aims to prevent bullying and suicide with a focus on the basic components of social-emotional learning. Through an engaging signature presentation, Sweethearts & Heroes shares a message that calls on empowerment, empathy and action, including the HOPE programming, which stands for Hold On, Possibilities Exist.

Techniques include the Circle, which is built on the ancient ritual of communicating in a circle to build empathy. The group also focuses on the BRAVE Buddies program, which trains older students in bully drills that they, in turn, teach to students in lower grades.

“I am very excited to bring Sweethearts & Heroes to Silver Creek,” said Silver Creek Superintendent Dr. Katie Ralston. “I have found the Sweethearts & Heroes assemblies and Circle work to be among the most impactful of anything I have seen in my career. Tom and Rick connect with students and help them understand their role in creating a school culture of Sweethearts & Heroes. They spend time with students and connect with students in a way that makes them feel heard and valued.

They truly help a school district include students in building a positive culture.”

Yarosh is a Purple Heart recipient and motivational speaker who was burned severely while serving in Iraq. He will be joined by Murphy, Director and Founder of St. Albans, VT; as well as Pat Fish, BRAVE and Circle Leader.

Murphy said, “We’re coming to Silver Creek to cultivate compassion and empathy. We aim to stop students from making destructive decisions and help them treat each other with kindness. We also make our messages sustainable in schools, so that they have an eventual and sustainable impact on the local community. The spider web effect is powerful and incredible.”

Parents are invited to attend presentations throughout the day on Thursday. A middle school assembly will be held in the auditorium from 7:30-9 a.m., followed by an assembly for grades K-2 from 9:15-10 a.m. in the elementary gymnasium. An assembly for grades 3-5 will follow in the elementary gymnasium from 10:15-11:15 a.m., with a High School presentation concluding the day in the auditorium from 12:45-2:20 p.m.

“I am hopeful parents will join us,” Ralston said.

The following day, Friday, Murphy will lead Circles with the entire staff for professional development.

For more than 16 years, Sweethearts & Heroes has presented what Murphy calls “‘the ‘stop, drop and roll’ of bullying” to more than 2.5 million students in school districts from New England to Hawaii and north into Canada. Sweethearts & Heroes also tailors its presentations and workshops for businesses, non-profits and civic groups. Murphy said, “We go where we’re needed. That’s what heroes do.”

In 2021, Sweethearts & Heroes released 13 Pillows For Affective Teachers, a novel that covers the themes of HOPE, Empathy and Action in the Sweethearts & Heroes curriculum. 13 Pillows is based on real students and teachers that Sweethearts & Heroes has encountered. Murphy co-wrote the book with Brian McKeon, of New York. 13 Pillows is available on Amazon and the audiobook is on Audible.

For more information on Sweethearts & Heroes, visit: sweetheartsandheroes.com.