October 1, 2022
Five-time All-Star Cleveland Cavaliers player Kevin Love worked with educators and experts to develop a social and emotional learning curriculum, piloted it for two years, and is now offering the materials for free to high schools in the United States.
Love, who has been open about his struggle with mental illness and an on-court panic attack, formed a foundation that created the materials for use with high schoolers and plans to expand into middle schools and colleges, as well as train teachers on the materials.
Video clips from Love, Suns point guard Chris Paul, and some faces outside of basketball—including actor Bryan Cranston, can be interspersed with in-person instruction from students’ own teachers. The curriculum encourages students to express their emotions in healthy ways, including through writing and music. More than a dozen lessons are designed to acquaint students with the concepts of being vulnerable and asking for help, as well as destigmatizing their own emotions. Love hopes the skills the lessons impart on students will lead them to practice empathy not only with themselves and their peers, but also outside the classroom with families, sports teams, and communities at large.