Who We Are
The PassageWorks Institute (previously known as PassageWays), founded and directed by Rachael Kessler, is dedicated to transforming the culture of classrooms, schools and districts so that the inner life of students and teachers is safe, nurtured and welcomed. By “inner life” we refer to that essential aspect of human nature that yearns for deep connection, grapples with difficult questions about meaning, and seeks a sense of purpose and genuine self-expression. For twenty years, our model for supporting these yearnings in young people has fostered the development of compassion and character, humility and excellence, and skills for collaboration and dialogue that are essential for a just democracy and a sustainable world.
Rachael Kessler is the author of The Soul of Education: Helping Students Find Connection, Compassion and Character at School, and coauthor of Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators. Described by Daniel Goleman in the New York Times as a "leader in a new movement for emotional literacy," Rachael has spent more than 20 years as an educator, author, speaker, and consultant on issues concerning the need for emotional intelligence, social competence and spiritual meaning in our classrooms, workplaces, and lives.
Our Organization's Mission
Our Mission is to inspire, prepare and support educators to implement our comprehensive model for nurturing the inner lives of students and teachers. Our Vision is of a world in which all young people are nurtured in their search for meaning, deep connection and integrity, thus supporting them to build character and excellence in ways that foster compassion for themselves and for the people and world around them.
Who We Serve
PassageWorks provides educational programs for teachers and school administrators and transition year curricula and mentoring support for the public and private school environment.
Our Programs
PassageWorks Institute
• Provides professional development opportunities for teachers and youth development professionals - Through proven and evolving training methodologies we provide professionals with both experiential and theoretical knowledge of PassageWorks’ core principles and practices.
• Offers curricula for the transition years of K-12 education that provide carefully sequenced lesson plans to support students through the critical life transitions into and out of elementary, middle and high school, and nurture emotional and social learning with a focus on deep connection to self, others, and community.
• Promotes discussion and learning amongst educators and youth development specialists about the relationship between nurturing the inner life and academic excellence, character development, and preventing self-destructive and violent behaviors.
• Contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of education through books, articles, and public speaking about appropriate strategies for nurturing the inner life at school.
• Develops or participates in strategic alliances, partnerships, and dialogue across the spectrum of beliefs to build an educational reform movement designed to nurture the inner life.
• Collaborates on research to evaluate the impact of our model on students and teachers and to study the large-scale implementation process of this model.
The principles, practices and experiences that are the heart of the PassageWorks Model have been shown to improve relationships at every level of the school. Our model is based on development of both the teacher and student and provides professional development and teaching experiences that sustain teachers by reconnecting them to their original sense of mission and their ability to manage stress.
Through careful, methodical cultivation of deep connection to self and others, teachers and students experience a shift of consciousness that opens the mind and heart to a new appreciation for self and others within their community. This helps them to develop their capacities for creating lives rooted in self-awareness, deep connection, responsibility, joy and meaning. Social responsibility and compassion emerge, not as a burden or obligation, but from a sense of connection and empowerment.
Through professional development opportunities, curriculum, ongoing research and outreach, the Institute provides safe and appropriate strategies for bringing “soul” into education. Our model provides educators with practical tools and understanding for building caring classroom and school communities, strengthening learning readiness and supporting the development of authentic identity in students.
Upcoming Events
The Soul of Education Foundation Course, designed for teachers, administrators, counselors, youth workers and parents, to enable immediate implementation of the PassageWorks Model in school and youth development settings. The Foundation Course covers methods for classrooms well as towards a shift of school culture to a more caring learning community. The Course is generally scheduled three times each year in Boulder, Colorado, and can be scheduled on-site for teacher training days for schools across the country.
UPCOMING FOUNDATION COURSE: June 19-21, 2008 - Boulder, Colorado
OUR NEWEST COURSE - Teaching Presence, June 22-24 - Boulder, Colorado
Board of Directors
David Brand - Chair - Consultant, Solstice Consulting
Ivan Duran - Secretary - Director of Instructional Technology, Aurora Public Schools
Shawna Friedman - Treasurer -Program Officer, Rose Community Foundation
Gordon Dveirin - Author, Organizational Development Consultant
Rachael Kessler - Founder; Author of The Soul of Education
John Lainson - Financial Manager, RBC Dain Rauscher
Erica Shafroth- Therapist, Educator, Co-Founder: Mothers Acting Up
Jennifer Walton - Consultant, Owner: Living Well
Board of Advisors
Angeles Arrien - Foundation For Cross-Cultural Education & Research, Sausalito CA
Alexander Astin - UCLA, Los Angeles CA
Joan Borysenko - Mind-Body Health Sciences, Inc., Boulder CO
Peter Cobb - Educational Consultant, Atlanta GA
Dee Dickinson - New Horizons for Learning, Seattle WA
Maurice Elias - Rutgers University, Piscataway NJ*
Jeannette Gerzon - Organizational Development Consultant, Cambridge MA
Julie Glover - Organizational Development Consultant, Clinton WA
Mark T. Greenberg - Penn State University PA*
Tobin Hart - Childspirit Institute, Carrollton GA
Mutima Imani - Innovations International, Oakland CA
Janice Jackson - Boston College School of Education, Chestnut Hill MA*
Susan Keister - Lions Quest, Columbus OH
Linda Lantieri - Project Renewal, New York NY
Michael Lerner - Commonweal, Bolinas CA
Thomas Likona - Center for the Fourth and Fifth R's, SUNY Cortland NY
Lynnaea Lumbard - Transformational Psychologist, Whidbey Island WA
Ron Miller - Foundation for Educational Renewal, Charlotte VT
Pamela Seigle - Courage and Renewal Northeast, Wellesley College, Wellesley MA
John Steiner - Creative Philanthropy Associates, Boulder CO
Peggy Taylor - Power of Hope, Langley WA
Roger Weissberg - University of Illinois, Chicago IL
Major Supporters and Sponsors
Angeles Arrien Foundation
Bay & Paul Foundation
Chartoff Family Foundation
City of Boulder Youth Opportunities Fund
Community Foundation of Boulder County
Compton Foundation
Dunnicliffe Foundation
Kalliopeia Foundation
M&M Osterman Foundation
MADA Charitable Trust
Pajwell Foundation
The Philanthropic Collaborative
Pittsburgh Leadership Group
Retzloff Family Foundation
Rose Community Foundation
Schramm Foundation
Shinnyo-en Foundation
Tides Foundation
Warner Family
Whitman Institute
| Year Founded : |
2001 |
| 501(c)(3) Ruling Year : |
2003 |
| Full-Time Employees : |
5 |
| Volunteers : |
30 |
| Annual Income : |
$367,000 |
| Amount Spent Fundraising : |
$55,000 |
What Sets Us Apart
PassageWorks addresses critical needs in the K12 student population, as well as offers a unique model that integrates teacher development with student impact. The non-profit PassageWorks Institute and our model for educational transformation grew out of an innovative approach to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) developed over the past 20 years by the Institute’s founder, Rachael Kessler. Defined in The Soul of Education, this inclusive, and systematic educational model has been endorsed by educators and community leaders across the spectrum of political, religious and social belief.
Despite growing research that shows the powerful link between personal development, meaningful learning and social responsibility, political forces have focused on the results of demanding, high-stakes testing as the primary measure of student knowledge and teacher ability, as well as the foremost factor in decisions related to the distribution of school funding and resources. In the midst of this crossfire, the nation is losing more teachers, principals, superintendents and students every day.
Staggering student dropout rates, low student achievement, high incidence of youth risk behaviors and unprecedented teacher attrition…
• Every school day, nearly 1,000 teachers leave the field of teaching.
• The cost of replacing public school teachers who have dropped out of the profession is estimated at $2.2 billion a year.
• The rate of teacher attrition is roughly 50% higher in poor schools than in wealthier schools.
• Teachers new to the profession are far more likely to leave than are their more experienced counterparts.
• Nationally, 6 million students are at high risk of dropping out of school or graduating without the skills they need to succeed in college or the 21st century workforce.
• Each year, more than 1 million students do not graduate with their peers; and 7,000 students drop out every single school day – with an increasing number dropping out in the 9th grade year.
• The United States is the world leader among developed countries in the proportion of births occurring to teenagers; and one in every three U.S. teenagers is known to be sexually active.
• Nearly 50% of U.S. teenagers report having used marijuana, and the use of other illegal drugs by youth is increasing – with teen methamphetamine use and arrests showing significant growth.
• One in three teens report having engaged in binge drinking.
• Violence involving teens and gang activity is steadily rising –in both rural and urban communities.
PassageWorks provides an essential component in the solution to this crisis by assisting teachers to cultivate a sense of meaning and renewal; and by supporting students to develop personal resilience, and an increased capacity for listening, focus, motivation and connection to school.
