REBEL HUMAN
FOR SCHOOLS
Protecting and promoting adolescent mental health so that today's students become tomorrow's changemakers
Our mission is to empower students with information and tools they can use anytime and anywhere to shift how they think, feel, and act in real-time. Watch our intro video below where students learn a bit more about "the why" behind the Rebel Human program.
THE 6 PILLARS
Survey responses from teachers who have taught Rebel Human practices to approximately 3,600 students
“They've helped me regulate overwhelming emotions that I feel throughout the day.”
10th Grader
“They've helped me get a new perspective on how to cope with anxious situations.”
11th Grader
“They have helped me look at things from a non-judgmental perspective. Overall, being able to see things as they are has lowered my anxiety.”
10th Grader
“I had a big test and I was really stressed out, even though I studied. We did Rebel Human in class, and I felt calm and confident in myself, and did well on the test.”
10th Grader
“It's helped me work on my negative thoughts and my anxiety. It's helped me relax my mind and body.”
12th Grader
“These practices have helped me stay calm in stressful situations.”
9th Grader
“Rebel Human practices have allowed me to be less stressed through an increased awareness of myself and body.”
12th Grader
“It helps me to change my negative thinking and it helps me to be myself instead of code switching.”
9th Grader
“I used diaphragmatic breathing before starting a presentation. The presentation was the best one I had ever done.”
10th Grader
“It's made me a lot better at breathing when I get stressed, and especially calming myself down when I'm panicked.”
9th Grader
“They helped me become clear headed.”
11th Grader
When I did Rebel Human practices in class, I felt ready to tackle the day. Though that may sound cliché, I truly did feel prepared and more optimistic. I also felt calmer and less anxious.”
11th Grader
“They've helped me outside of school manage with pain from my chronic illness.”
10th Grader
“Rebel Human practices have helped me a lot in frustrating classroom situations.”
9th Grader
“I am able to control my breathing better which helps me with regaining focus on tasks and not freaking out when stressed.”
11th Grader
“My math class has used Rebel Human practices and they help me feel more calm about what we are learning and less stressed.”
11th Grader
“Rebel Human practices have helped me focus this year.”
9th Grader
“They've been incredible tools with the reduction of my anxiety. I love them.”
11th Grader
ADVISORY BOARD
DR. PAUL GOREN
Paul Goren currently serves as the director of the Center for Education Efficacy, Excellence and Equity, and as chief strategy advisor and lecturer for the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy.
Between 2014-2019, he was Superintendent of Schools for the Evanston/Skokie (IL) School District 65, where he implemented early literacy curricular reforms, established climate teams and approaches to social/emotional learning and restorative justice in every building, and led a robust equity agenda that included racial identity training for 1400 employees over a 2-year period.
Prior to joining District 65, Goren was the Senior Vice President for Program at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) in Chicago. Previously, he served for over a decade as Senior Vice president of the Spencer Foundation and as a Program Director for Child and Youth Development at the MacArthur Foundation.
DR. MICHAEL ALLEN
Dr. Michael Allen was Principal of Oakton Elementary School in District 65 where he implemented school-wide mental health skills training. For his work at Oakton, he was named Elementary Principal of the Year (North Cook Region) by the Illinois Principals Association. This prestigious award recognizes school principals who have demonstrated a positive impact on their students, and on their learning community.
In 2020, Dr. Allen and his brother published the middle-grade book, “Brotherly Love.” The book, which they wrote together, tells their inspiring, true story, and addresses themes such as hope, vulnerability, mental health, and the power of mentorship.
Currently. Dr. Allen serves as an Educational Leadership Consultant for Illinois Principals Association, and is in the 2022 IMPACT cohort at Chicago Urban League.
DR. DOUG BOLTON
After receiving a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University of Vermont, Dr. Bolton completed his internship at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now Lurie’s Children’s Hospital) in 1995. His strong belief in a system’s power to help people change, led him to work in therapeutic schools as a school psychologist while maintaining a small private practice. He then spent 14 years as principal of North Shore Academy, a school for students with significant emotional and behavioral issues in Highland Park.
Dr. Bolton’s work in schools has focused on helping students identified with social and emotional disabilities to co-create a vibrant and connected school community that enables them to overcome their challenges and to more fully engage in their home, school and local community.
Currently, he is a School Consultant and Psychologist at Formative Psychological Services, and a frequent speaker at schools across the Midwest along with FAN (Family Action Network).
DR. STASIA ROUSE
Originally from South Africa, Dr. Stasia Rouse is a practicing neurologist and clinical educator serving as Assistant Professor at Loyola University Medical School. She currently serves as Vice Chair of diversity, equity and inclusion and Associate Resident Program Director in Loyola University Medical Center Neurology department in Maywood.
Between 2014 and 2018 Stasia did her second neurology residency at Loyola University Medical Center, her first being in South Africa at the University of Witwatersrand from 2002-2005. After running a busy solo neurology practice in Fourways, Johannesburg, she relocated with her family to Chicago in 2011 where she did stroke research prior to entering neurology residency.
In 2018 and 2019 she completed an Epilepsy fellowship at Rush University Medical Center.
LES CONEY
Lester Coney serves as an Executive Vice President in the Mesirow Office of the Chairman. Les has more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Mesirow, Les served as Aon’s National Sales Director.
Les was the first African American Chairman of the Goodman Theatre’s board and named a Life Trustee. His passion for the arts and civic betterment have led him to serve as a current Trustee for the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as a board member for both the Miami City Ballet and the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation.
Les is honored to be a former Trustee of Lincoln University (PA) and President Barack Obama's National Finance Committee member in both 2008 and 2012.
DESTINI BROWN
Destini is a college student studying kinesiology, and a yoga teacher. She has served as an adolescent mentor at YMCA’s MetaMedia Lab for three years.
Destini was part of Rebel Human’s first roster of teachers in the Schools Program. Her commitment to serving and teaching youth guides her career path, linking wellness with social and emotional development.
FOUNDERS
JENNY ARRINGTON
Jenny Arrington, Co-Founder of Rebel Human, trained under Harvard neuroscientist, Dr. Srini Pillay, is certified under both the Kundalini Research Institute and the Yoga Alliance (E-RYT®, YACEP®), and serves as Wellness Advisor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Jenny has taught internationally in Iceland and at the International Yoga Festival in France, has worked with Fortune 500 companies, and has been featured in publications including US News & World Report, Chicago Tribune, Shape, CS, and Chicago Magazine to name a few. Her first book, The Kundalini Yoga Posture Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching and Practicing the Postures, was published in 2019.
Jenny is known for being able to convince even the most skeptical through her deep knowledge of neurobiology and her skill at teaching practices that have a strong impact on a person's physiological, psychological, and emotional states. She is adept at using an embodied and action-oriented approach to mental health and wellbeing that is grounded in science and produces state changes quickly.
Jenny’s unique approach to teaching is informed by her varied experiences, whether it be swimming with sharks, moving up the ranks in Shark Tank, leading a team of student archaeologists in Pompeii, moderating her YPO forum group, scuba diving at 200ft depths, pitching her product at the MIT Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, chairing a non-profit board, to meditating for seven hours in one stretch. When Jenny is not teaching and developing programming you might find her on the flying trapeze or spinning upside down in the aerial silk because as she likes to say, “I try to do something that scares me at least once every day.”
DR. TAIT MEDINA
Dr. Tait Medina, Co-Founder of Rebel Human, received her Ph.D. in sociology with an emphasis in mental health and research methods from Indiana University. At the center of her research is the principal insight that health cannot be regarded as simply an individual or biological phenomenon. Health and wellness are intimately connected to and influenced by the institutional, social, cultural, relational, and environmental contexts within which we live. As such, any successful approach to improving health and wellbeing must consider these meso- and macro-contextual factors.
Tait taught for a number of years at University of Michigan and later worked as a senior research scientist at the Institute for Health Research and Policy at University of Illinois Chicago, studying adolescent mental health and substance use. She has given talks at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin and at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy which convenes leaders from around the world to advance ideas for social impact. Her research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as American Journal of Psychiatry, American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Sociology, and Oxford Journal of Nicotine and Tobacco Research; and in edited volumes such as the Handbook of Sociology of Health, Illness, and Healing: A Blueprint for the 21st Century.
Prior to attending graduate school, Tait enjoyed a career as a professional ballet dancer. At fifteen, she was hired by the First National Touring Company of The Phantom of The Opera as one of its original members and later performed with the Broadway company. She graduated from New Trier High School in 1993, and currently resides in Wilmette with her husband and son.
WHAT IS REBEL HUMAN FOR SCHOOLS?
Schools need access to an easy-to-integrate program that empowers students to work with and understand emotions, manage stress and anxiety, strengthen resilience, develop self-confidence and self-worth, build equanimity, and navigate these uncertain times. Given the dramatic increases in depression, anxiety, and self-harm, now is the time for schools to implement regular, daily, school-wide wellness protocols, and we are here to help.
Rebel Human® for Schools is a web-based learning environment that allows educators to seamlessly integrate SEL into their 6-12 classrooms without any advance preparation or training. Rebel Human uses embodied neuroscience to teach students simple tools they can use to shift their physiology. emotional state, and mindset in real time. It helps schools co-create a culture of psychological safety and care through developing skills in self-awareness, emotion regulation, impulse control, self-care and stress management, perspective taking, empathy, relationship building, respect for self and others, social engagement, and ethical responsibility.
Designed by experts in the field, Rebel Human for Schools integrates social and emotional learning (SEL) with foundational practices and vetted neuroscientific findings, allowing for a skills-based and experiential approach to social and emotional well-being.
WHY DOES MY SCHOOL NEED THIS?
Decades of research demonstrate that SEL and meditation and mindfulness practices increase prosocial behavior, decrease emotional distress, reduce conduct problems, and improve academic performance. You can read more about this research HERE. But, despite the overwhelming evidence of the positive impact of SEL and SEL-supportive approaches such as meditation and mindfulness, the organizational structure of schools makes it difficult to implement learning in these areas, especially at the high-school level.
The Rebel Human for Schools program is unique in that it provides short, engaging, and experiential video lessons designed for the adolescent brain. These video lessons can be easily integrated into the classroom, having a big impact on social and emotional development, without taking time away from academics. Our program can also serve as an alternative to detention, helping the students who need it the most heal from trauma and develop new skills, competencies, and strategies.
Given the unprecedented disruptions of the past two years, wellness and social-emotional support is an urgent need. A recent study found that 7 out of 10 teens are struggling with their mental health. Without targeted efforts to help students manage stress, anxiety, and uncertainty, the multiple competing pressures of recent years will have lasting deleterious effects.
WHY ARE YOU CALLED REBEL HUMAN?
We view wellness through the lens of building Rebel Humans. A Rebel Human is someone who:
-
finds novel solutions to intractable problems
-
creatively reimagines and works to enact a better future
-
challenges harmful and limiting internal and external norms
-
has the courage, grit, and fortitude to do the hard thing when it's the right thing
There are countless examples of doing the hard thing when it’s the right thing. It can be as simple as following through with a commitment, to as challenging as speaking your truth in a roomful of naysayers or standing up in defense of another at the expense of your own comfort and privilege. Regardless of the specific “thing,” doing the hard thing when it’s the right thing is, by definition, hard. It takes resilience, equanimity, and the capacity to see beyond oneself. These are the skills we teach.
We developed the Rebel Human for Schools program because we believe the world needs more rebel humans.
WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON MENTAL HEALTH APPS?
As many SEL and Wellness start-ups turn to developing apps to capture biometrics and monitor increasingly more aspects of your everyday life, we stand firm in our belief that the most effective and sustainable road to physical and mental well-being is to build one's own self-awareness, discernment, and intrinsic motivation. A more “analog” approach empowers you to manage your own systems and emotions anywhere, anytime. Apps, badges, pop-ups, “likes”, AI chat bots, and facial emotion recognition software are usually not the panacea we want them to be, and they keep us increasingly connected and dependent upon our phones. At Rebel Human, we push back against trends and norms that don’t work, trends that create more harm than good. While it may at first seem appealing to offload all decisions to apps and the machine based AI that power them, with a bit of practice you will find that honing your own self-awareness and intrinsic motivation leads to greater power, autonomy, and happiness.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN REBEL HUMAN FOR SCHOOLS? WHAT IS THE PRICE?
Set up a time for us to take you through a demo of our web-based SEL platform and to take you through our various pricing options. You can reach us at info@therebelhuman.com or fill out the form below.
MEET A FEW OF OUR TEACHERS
JENNY ARRINGTON
Co-Founder of Rebel Human. Published Author. Wellness Advisor at Kellogg. Trained with Harvard Neuroscientist, Dr. Srini Pillay, in using neurocoaching to help people achieve their full potential. E-RYT® 200 and YACEP® certified.
DESTINI BROWN
Fell in love with yoga and meditation while in high school. Passionate about teaching yoga and meditation to middle and high school students.
ASHLEY ROCKWOOD
Dancer. Teacher. Entrepreneur. Founder of Free Mvmt Shop, which promotes and provides a positive and nonjudgemental environment for all people to move freely and express themselves through dance. Danced on tour with Beyoncé.
MADRID PERRY
Artist. International DJ. Sound Consultant. Toured Europe with Oprah as her DJ. Passionate about the power of music, meditation, and mindfulness to impact change in individuals, communities, and the world.
INTERESTED IN BRINGING REBEL HUMAN TO YOUR SCHOOL?
Fill out the form below and we will be in touch soon!