Get essential education news and commentary delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here for The 74’s daily newsletter. Helping struggling students with social-emotional learning for 20 minutes a day, three times a week can have a dramatic impact on their confidence, mental health and academic engagement, says Katie Dorn, chief executive officer and co-founder […]
EmpowerU, Lilac 11, and Neiibor Crate help you experience wellness without leaving the house.
The Covid-19 pandemic got entrepreneurs thinking about ways to help people improve their physical and mental health without having to leave the house. Meet three such Minnesota startups working to bring health home:
EmpowerU
EmpowerU founders Abby Master (left) and Katie Dorn
Between March and October 2020, the Centers for Disease Control reported a 31 percent increase over 2019 in emergency room visits of children ages 12 to 17 for mental health concerns.
“Depression, anxiety, avoidance, ADHD these have all been exacerbated in the pandemic by remote learning, loss of milestones, isolation, and loneliness. Combine all that with the stress of what’s going on in our country and … it doesn’t take much to trigger students to the point where they feel like they can’t cope,” says Katie Dorn, a school counselor and therapist and CEO of EmpowerU, an online social-emotiona
By Dian Schaffhauser
01/07/21
A
company that produces a tech-powered social-emotional learning
solution will be expanding its distribution, after a thousand
students have used it in Minnesota. EmpowerU
has received $1 million in seed funding to take its program
nationwide, for licensing by middle schools, high schools and
colleges.
Participating
students receive daily online lessons and one-on-one motivational
coaching as nudges for improving their emotional wellbeing,
attendance and grades.
Use
of the semester-long online program takes about 20 to 30 minutes each
day. According to the company, that daily blend of
support can decrease the need for more costly interventions. The
approach is aligned with CASEL
Twin Cities entrepreneur develops mental health website for teens January 10, 2021 8:16am Text size Copy shortlink:
Katie Dorn, veteran entrepreneur and former school counselor, has never seen a tougher emotional state for high school kids than these COVID-driven times of separation, hardship and anxiety.
She and her small crew at EmpowerU have spent four years developing with 35 schools and 1,000-plus students a solution that packages an online program with counseling support. We haven t made money [yet], said Dorn, who just started paying herself what she made at a school years ago. But this is my passion project. We ve created a solution that is making a difference in building resilience. We walk with the students.