BOONVILLE, NY — As part of an ongoing partnership with the Adirondack Central School District, an
amazing duo of superheroes without capes, including a Purple Heart Recipient who has
published a children’s book, will visit Boonville to teach students and educators how to activate
compassion, empathy and HOPE in their classrooms — and beyond.

Sweethearts & Heroes aims to prevent hopelessness, bullying and suicide by providing dynamic, inspiring content that centers on the human interaction skills necessary for schools and other organizations to change all aspects of their culture — skills such as empathy, compassion and teamwork.

Sweethearts & Heroes offers a profound, engaging signature presentation that calls for
HOPE (Hold On, Possibilities Exist), Empathy and Action; Circle, which is built on the ancient
ritual of communicating in a circle to build compassion and empathy; and the BRAVE Youth
Leadership System, which trains older students in bully drills that they, in turn, teach to
students in lower grades, thus creating a sustainable, student-directed initiative.

During this school year, Sweethearts & Heroes started offering Train the Trainer, which teaches
current educators how to weave their own Circle trainings for future hires; and STEP (the
Student Teacher Empathy Program), which teaches high school students how to present
Sweethearts & Heroes’ signature assemblies for students in grades K-2 and 3-5.

Sweethearts & Heroes’ central team of traveling presenters includes: Tom Murphy, Director and
Founder, of St. Albans, VT; Ret. U.S. Army Sgt. Rick Yarosh, a HOPE expert, Purple Heart
recipient and motivational speaker from New York who was burned severely while serving in
Iraq; and Pat Fish, BRAVE Program Director & Circle Specialist, also of New York. Josiah
McKeon and Wyatt Hackett, both of New York, also visit schools for Sweethearts & Heroes.

“Sweethearts & Heroes doesn’t focus on creating another SEL (social-emotional learning) or
Human Skills curriculum,” Murphy said. “Instead, we implement practices and habits that
genuinely empower and nurture students’ growth. When people genuinely connect on a daily
basis, they naturally develop the capacity for more meaningful interactions and thoughtful
responses. Prioritizing human skills shouldn’t require extra preparation or a separate curriculum
— it should be our primary focus. After all, before we can effectively teach academic subjects,
we must first be teachers of humanity.”