Nurturing, Healing, Love. Three powerful words left on a kitchen chalkboard by six year old Jesse Lewis that have gone on to become the foundational values for the Choose Love Movement.
On December 14, 2012, Jesse was one of 20 young children between six and seven years old who lost their lives to a school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Jesse’s final moments were spent saving nine of his first grade classmates’ lives. Scarlett Lewis, mother to Jesse says, “I want people to know that he was funny and fun. He was brave, he is brave, he left a chalkboard message for all of us where we need to focus and turn, in order to survive and thrive in our lives saying nurturing, healing, love.”
Following the tragedy S. Lewis went on to create the Choose Love Movement in honor of Jesse and the other victims.
The Choose Love Movement was created in 2012 as a way to nurture safer and more loving communities to the next generation with essential life skills and character development programs for all ages.
The movement is currently in 120 countries and 11,000 schools with a 91% effectiveness rate. In addition, they are active in prison systems, governmental agencies, foster care, and various other causes.
S. Lewis says, “We have a universal language and formula that empowers us to make the strongest and best choice for us and humanity which is love and we have been spreading that message through a no cost program for the past 10 years.”
Using neuroscience, mindfulness, positive psychology, and more they have programs for home, work, and community with the mission of creating safer schools and a safer world.
In order to accomplish their mission, the Choose Love Movement is based on the formula of courage with gratitude, forgiveness, and compassionate action as a way to effectively choose love.
S. Lewis says, “We teach courage because we need to have courage every day to do the right thing. We also teach that forgiveness is a choice that becomes a process. Maybe the most important thing that you do your entire life is to give your personal power away and anger, resentment, and revenge to the person who hurt you. That has been a really big part of my life and my healing.
S. Lewis was a single mom with a full time job however after the passing of Jesse her life changed immensely. Scarlett had to rise to the occasion in order to be the best version of herself for her twelve year old son while thinking about how she could be part of a solution and prevent others from going through what they did.
“What happened to him was one hundred percent preventable,” says S. Lewis, “All school shootings are one hundred percent preventable and so I realized that I can’t just be living my life the way that I was. That is why I quit my job and I started the Choose Love movement working every single day since to be part of the solution by spreading Jesse’s message.”
This year is an important milestone for Sandy Hook’s youngest survivors as they will be graduating high school and moving on to the next chapters of their lives.
Scarlett’s message to the graduating class of 2024 states, “You are alive for a reason and you have a purpose and I hope that you honor Jesse by doing something great and I am sure that you will by being part of the solution in some way, by living your life to serve others. That is when we help and heal ourselves and I look forward to following you and seeing how you help humanity.”
Comparable to the Choose Love Movement, Foran introduced the Students Against Violence Everywhere Promise Club. The SAVE Promise Club is a student-led group where peers are encouraged to empower each other with knowledge and skills to be leaders of change in hopes of building a strong sense of community within the school.
Advisor Melissa Kaminski says, “Having SAVE Promise club at Foran is crucial as it provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the consequences of violence and bullying and encourage a positive and inclusive environment for all students.”
Whether it be through the Choose Love Movement or the SAVE Promise Program there are various ways to get involved, advocate for change, make a difference, and honor Jesse.
