Δ: Overview for Teachers
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In April 2022, The New York Times quoted research findings that 44 percent of American high school students report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. This number feels conservative, and in no way limited to high school students. In a highly-charged and uncertain world, what are the things that can enliven, humanize, uplift, and inspire? How can young people experience and share new ways of relating to and caring for themselves, the earth and each other? What can we keep on the horizon of our minds that opens our hearts?
Hope on the Rize aims to transform apathy and disengagement, awakening and sharing the parts of our lives, from the tiny to the huge, that make evident our interconnectedness and capacity for change. It asks people to come as they are, share what they love, discover new aspects of identity, and participate in telling a new story of what’s hopeful and what’s possible.
– Dr. Elizabeth Miller, Co-Founder of Pseads
These questions are at the heart of Hope on Rize – a standards-compliant emergent project that invites young people to create their own 1-2 minute short film documenting a message or project they believe deserves attention and can activate a more beautiful, just and peaceful future.
Hope on the Rize can include learning journeys that weave writing, reflection, media, conversation, and action, including through adaptable, standards-compliant lessons that integrate guidance on student filmmaking.
To expand the ripple of student action further, we want to plant a tree for every student project completed and encouraging communities to host their own youth showcases in May 2022. This effort will be connected with Jane Goodall’s Trees for Jane project and the Trillion Trees Campaign, and is inspired by the legacy of Pseads founding board member and poet Dedan Gills and Belvie Rooks, and their vision through Growing a Global Heart to plant a million trees to promote social and environmental healing.
Integrated Literacies: Traditional, Scientific, Civic, Digital Media and Social-Emotional
1. Every Vision and Voice Matters
Hope on the Rize empowers students to develop academic and real-world skills through creative storytelling. Students explore poetry, reflective writing, scriptwriting, storyboarding, video production, and more while building essential self-expression skills like active listening, organizing ideas, and speaking with purpose. Along this journey, students gain confidence, agency, and a deeper sense of purpose as they discover the power of their unique voices and perspectives. Curiosity grows into hope, and hope into a drive to create meaningful change.
2. Integrative Projects that Deepen Learning
Hope on the Rize projects are designed and activated in partnership with educators, enhancing student learning through creative, standards-aligned experiences—especially for students in grades 5–8.
We work closely with teachers to understand grade-level goals, classroom culture, and the year’s overall arc of learning across subjects like history, science, and English. Drawing on two decades of experience designing customized and adaptive learning journeys, we create integrated projects that complement, expand, and amplify what’s already happening in the classroom.
3. From Creative Spark to Short Film
The first phase of Hope on the Rize projects invites students to think critically and creatively, encouraging them to explore different perspectives through conversation, poetry, and reflective writing. From there, students are guided step-by-step—from an initial creative idea to a final short film that expresses something they care about, value, enjoy, or hope to see more of in the world.
Each project culminates in a classroom or grade-level submission of films to the Hope on the Rize project, combining voices across grades and schools. Many classrooms also host “film festivals,” where families and school communities are invited to watch and celebrate the unique narratives students have created through this powerful and meaningful learning experience.
A sample timeline of Pseads’ Hope on the Rize program. Timeline may vary due to school and teacher preference.
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