Project EMPOWER
Where Youth Build Resilience, Strengthen Voice, and Grow Together
​​​Project Empower is an after-school program held at Cielo Vista Charter School within PSUSD that helps children and youth develop social-emotional awareness, body regulation, and healthy relationship skills. Through movement, storytelling, games, and restorative circles, students learn to notice their feelings, track their nervous system responses, how to return to a zone of calm, and make safe, kind choices.
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Each grade-level group focuses on age-appropriate growth and empowerment:
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Grades K–2: Learning big feelings, calm minds & bodies, kindness, and safe choices through play.
Grades 3–4: Learning concepts around emotional awareness, empathy, boundary setting, and accountability.
Grades 5–6: Strengthening confidence, focus, and self-leadership through communication, resilience, and group connection.
Grades 7–8: Developing voice, value-based leadership, and safe relationship skills through honest discussion and peer support.
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Rooted in trauma-informed, body-based practices, Project Empower gives students practical tools to regulate, connect, and lead with empathy—fostering stronger, more resilient school communities.
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CVC families: To enroll your child, follow the link
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Project EMPOWER builds and gathers curriculum grounded in the Community Resiliency Model (CRM®), HeartMath®, AWBW (A Window Between Worlds Art Transforming Trauma) Curriculum, Changemakers Curriculum by Momentous Institute, and the work of Maggie Kline, author of Brain-Changing Strategies to Trauma-Proof Our Schools: A Heart-Centered Movement for Wiring Well-Being (2020).
Our goal is to inspire a science-based, heart-centered shift that helps youth manage stress, find balance, and nurture a culture of kindness and emotional well-being across schools and communities.
Peer Support Leaders
Peer Support Leaders are youth volunteers who serve as positive role models and facilitators within SpeakHeart Alliance’s Project Empower programming. These leaders support the delivery of psychoeducational, social-emotional learning (SEL) activities for younger students in a structured, trauma-responsive environment.
Peer Support Leaders are trained in foundational Community Resiliency Model (CRM) skills, including nervous system awareness, grounding, and emotional regulation strategies. Through this training, they develop the ability to model attunement, co-regulation, and coherence while building safe, supportive relationships with students.
In their role, Peer Support Leaders:
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Assist in implementing daily lesson plans focused on brain science, emotional regulation, boundaries, impulse control, and relationship-building.
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Model respectful communication, empathy, and leadership through connection.
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Support younger students in practicing social-emotional and resilience skills.
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Help create a safe, inclusive, and engaging learning environment.
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Strengthen their own leadership, self-awareness, and interpersonal skills
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This role is rooted in SpeakHeart’s heart-centered philosophy, where connection comes before correction, and emphasizes growth for both the students being served and the leaders themselves.
