Lesson Titles and Descriptions for the Power of PATH Curriculum:


YEAR 1 LESSON TITLES AND DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE CURRICULUM FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL:


Objectives and Learning Targets


Lesson One—Introduction to Tasha Schuh and the Power of PATH

  • Students will acknowledge how some events change lives forever and how the concept of PATH can teach resiliency to get through these life-changing events.
  • Students will be able to identify PATH (Purpose, Attitude, Team, and Hope) and how each of these helps identify their personal mental health and awareness of individuals around them.
  • Students will be able to define resiliency and its importance in their lives.

Lesson Two—The Power of Purpose in Our Race of Life

  • Students will assess their strengths, talents, and gifts to identify purpose and generate self-awareness.
  • Students will understand their importance and value in the world and that the choices they make matter.
  • Students will identify healthy coping mechanisms like writing privately, assessing the advantages to a private journal while considering other personal expression options like art, music, or movement.

Lesson Three—The Power of Attitude in Our Race of Life

  • Students will be able to define attitude and how it contributes to their own mental health.
  • Students will be able to list the five basic human emotions (sadness, fear, joy, anger, disgust) recognizing the challenge in finding balance for all.
  • Students will practice applying the power of attitude to potential life challenging situations.

Lesson Four—The Power of Team in Our Race of Life

  • Students will be able to define connectedness and how it supports healthy relationships and boosts individual well-being.
  • Students will assess their strengths within their own friendships and explore how they connect with people they identify as “friends.”
  • Students will learn what contributes to a solid PITCrew Team and that it’s okay to ask for help.
  • Students will identify their PITCrew Team with emphasis on ebb and flow. They must plan for inclusion while coping with team change over time. They will also share their PITCrew Team Boards.

Lesson Five—The Power of Hope in Our Race of Life

  • Students will be able to define hope and how it supports present and future positive thinking.
  • Students will analyze data and gather knowledge that validates the need for mental health education, acknowledging the wealth of resources available for suicide awareness and mental health support.

Lesson Six—Recap of PATH

  • Students will complete a self-assessment of PATH and how this tool may support mental health for themselves and others.
  • Students will reflect on the results of their Personal Growth Goal (PGG).


NOTE: If your school is planning to use the Power of PATH as a multi-year curriculum, this outline encompasses year one only - the six fundamentals of the Power of PATH.

Have questions? Please email us at [email protected].



YEAR 2 LESSON TITLES AND DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE CURRICULUM FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL:


Objectives and Learning Targets


Lesson One—Review of PATH Acronym

  • Students will review the acronym PATH.
  • Students will review the definition of self-awareness and recognize its value in social and emotional learning.
  • Students will deepen their sense of Purpose, which facilitates the additional SEL tools found in PATH: A positive Attitude, a trusted Team of support, and an understanding of Hope’s role in their futures.
  • Students will review the need for self-awareness in their pursuit of the Power of PATH.


Lesson Two—The P in PATH, Purpose - The Broken Heart Activity

  • Students will revisit the PATH definition of Purpose Now and how Tasha learned how a sense of purpose comes from a) learning to empathize with classmates, b) from observing others around us, and c) from making and self-correcting our mistakes. 
  • Students will recall how empathy, an essential part of The Power of PATH, contributes to our own sense of Purpose Now.
  • Students will take ownership when creating school/class expectations.
  • Students will review the PATH essentials for expected student behavior throughout the school year and beyond (like empathy and Above-line Behaviors).
  • Students will learn how the “Broken Heart Activity” will provide boundaries for empathetic behavior. 
  • Students will accept teacher interventions for healthy decision-making skills related to PATH concepts of empathy and kindness.


Lesson Three—The A in PATH, Attitude - Wise Mind

  • Students will observe two research-based strategies to dispel the negative self-talk that sometimes leads us away from our “Wise Mind”: 1. distract and 2. combat.
  • Students will reflect on their past experience using one or both of these strategies.
  • Students will practice (role play) using one or both of these attitude-strengthening strategies to demonstrate their understanding of the power of self-affirmation.
  • Students will revisit the PATH definition of Attitude (the A in PATH) and how Tasha confronted the tremendous change in her life by empowering herself with “self-affirmations.” 
  • Students will review the need for self-awareness, especially when negative thinking takes hold of them. 
  • Students will learn strategies of self-affirmation in order to flip their attitudes when negative thinking begins to influence their “Wise Mind.”


Lesson Four—Friendship: Understanding Bullies + Managing Social Media

  • Students will revisit the T in PATH, Team, by understanding the challenges that come with developing friendships – at school and online.
  • Students will identify strategies for being a better friend by improving their attention and listening skills.
  • Students will assess the times social media enhances their friendships and when social media interferes with their friendships.
  • Students will use empathy as a means of stopping bully behavior before it starts.
  • Students will weigh the pros and cons of social media, and plan strategies to use social media to enhance friendships, rather than interfere with them.


Lesson Five—The H in PATH: Hope - Connection between Self-Awareness and Resilience

  • Students will revisit the H in PATH, Hope, through stories of resilience: Tasha Schuh and Gerald Hodge. 
  • Students will identify challenging choices in life that help build resilience - such as sports, academics, and hard jobs.
  • Students will use a daily self-assessment tool as a strategy to identify their level of resilience.
  • Students will deepen their understanding of the events that require resilience in life.
  • Students will explore the connection between self-awareness and resilience in order to better gauge when to be self-reliant and when to ask others for help.


Lesson Six—Final Review MSY2 of PATH

  • Students will review The Power of PATH tools that may serve them in their future management of mental and emotional health.
  • Students will identify Resilience as something to nurture in all living things, not just humans.
  • Students will deepen their understanding of the events that require resilience in life by exploring resilience as an ongoing process, not an end product.
  • Students will work in small groups to identify resilience in other living things.


NOTE: If your school is planning to use the Power of PATH as a multi-year curriculum, this outline encompasses year two only - the six fundamentals of the Power of PATH.

Have questions? Please email us at [email protected].

YEAR 2 LESSON TITLES AND DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM:


Objectives and Learning Targets


Lesson One—Review of Acronym PATH

  • Students will review the acronym PATH.
  • Students will review the definition of self-awareness and recognize its value in social and emotional learning.
  • Students will practice resilience through sample decision-making scenarios that have more favorable outcomes when guided by PATH.
  • Students will review how self-awareness, one component of PATH, empowers them to make confident decisions, minimize self-doubt, and communicate more effectively with others.

Lesson Two—The P in PATH, Purpose - My Purpose Board  

  • Students will review the meaning of the P in PATH–having a sense of Purpose in daily life–in other words, Purpose Now.
  • Students will create a Purpose Board and explore the value in knowing one’s likes, abilities, interests, and strengths. 
  • Students will learn the connection between their Purpose Board and a sense of self-reliance, especially when faced with adversity and challenges in life.
  • Students will learn the connection between their Purpose Board and a sense of empathy for others, knowing their own strengths if/when faced with an opportunity to help others.



Lesson Three—The A in PATH, Attitude - Positive Affirmations  

  • Students will review the A in PATH and learn there are strategies for initiating an attitude shift when needed for better mental and emotional health.
  • Students will practice positive affirmations, learning how to replace negative self-talk for mental and emotional health management.
  • Students will learn how Attitude is equivalent to perspective, which usually presents itself on a range or continuum. “Flipping” one’s attitude often means seeing another perspective or point of view.
  • Students will explore how to use positive affirmations to change perspective when negative thoughts interfere with a person’s quality of life, or hold a person back from fulfilling individual goals or aspirations.


Lesson Four—The T in PATH, Team - Constructive Criticism and Positive Influencers

  • Students will review the definition of Team, specifically the PITCrew Team, as it pertains to the T in PATH.
  • Students will learn about strategies to help them differentiate between criticism that triggers shame, and constructive criticism that is supportive and part of the learning process.
  • Students will recognize the need for self-awareness when others offer them feedback, positive or negative. 
  • Students will recognize the potential for influences on mental/emotional health due to social media’s role in our world.


Lesson Five—The H in PATH, Hope - The Power of Holding On  

  • Students will review the definition of Hope as it pertains to the H in PATH.
  • Students will learn of the resources available to: a) survivors of a suicide attempt and b) the survivors of suicide loss (family/friends).
  • Students will engage skills of empathy as they view the suicide survivor story of Meghan Miller. 
  • Students will review the power of asking for help if suicidal ideation becomes evident, for themselves or a friend/loved one, or a peer/co-worker who asks for help. 


Lesson Six—The Power of PATH Review and Exit Survey

  • Students will review The Power of PATH components that may serve them in their future management of mental and emotional health.
  • Students will provide feedback for your instruction (Exit Survey/Final Test) regarding the PATH Curriculum’s many resources to support mental/emotional health and suicide awareness.
  • Students will explore the current resources available toward overcoming stigma and taboo topics that culturally/historically have kept people from openly talking about mental and emotional health.
  • Students will reflect on their understanding of the Power of PATH beyond the classroom and school.


NOTE: If your school is planning to use the Power of PATH as a multi-year curriculum, this outline encompasses year two only - the six fundamentals of the Power of PATH.

Have questions? Please email us at [email protected].