Words by Tess Becker
There’s a constant schoolroom question of “when are we ever going to use this information?”, with students upset that they aren’t necessarily learning valuable life skills in school.
An organization like SELF wants to address that and help teach kids how to "become their best selves".
SELF stands for the Santoro Education Lifeskills Foundation and was started by Joe Santoro when he realized that many of the life skills he learned in adulthood could help younger people live a better life –with more potential the earlier they learn it.
“I'm a guy who started with nothing and didn't know what important personal life skills are, including knowing yourself, managing yourself, understanding others, and relating to them,” Joe Santoro tells Smiley News.
“It wasn't until I was in my 30s I realized I was missing all these things. I was running my own business and needed to learn these skills, so I started seeking out people who could help me."
The more he grew his businesses, the more Joe realized he needed those interpersonal skills to work with others, such as hourly workers, union workers, managers, CEOs, government officials, litigators, and board members.
So after time spent in different public schools in New Jersey and Florida, he got to work starting SELF.
The nonprofit has the main goal of teaching interpersonal life skills in all schools. "It is our firm belief that these skills should be included as a routine part of all school curricula, and that if it were, our children would be better prepared for life," they say."
In the early days, Joe worked on getting the program into schools near central Florida – but he was rejected for one reason or another. So he decided to keep the program online and offer scholarships to anyone who completed the program.
“Out of 127 students, I think only five we've been dropped out with that make the interview. Everybody else I gave out $220,000 in scholarships,” Joe says.
Thank you cards as a way to inspire
To expand the reach of the organization, Joe decided to start a program to help others be courteous with a ‘thank you card’ scheme. People can put their name and address into the SELF website, and the organization will mail out free cards for people to hand out and show as a token of gratitude to someone throughout their day.
“It's more important than the cards, but the cards might get you to a point where somebody might listen to you,” Joe says. “And then that's really where this thing is powerful.”
The cards themselves have been a massive hit – with one single order being over 250,000. He even uses the cards himself regularly.
“When you're out and about, you can try to be positive. I carried four cards the other day – it forces me to look for the positive which is good, and now I have a quarter of a million people giving out these cards.”
Find out more about the SELF programs or order your free cards on their website.
