Beyond the Pressure: Building Resilience and Connection with the Choose Love Movement

Darien is a community of high achievers but the "pressure cooker" of academic and social expectations can often lead to overwhelming stress and anxiety for our students. When the drive for success outpaces emotional support, the results can be devastating for a town’s collective mental health.

Join us for a vital presentation on how we can provide our youth the "emotional armor" they need to thrive. We are honored to be joined by Scarlett Lewis, founder of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement. After the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Scarlett dedicated her life to a mission of proactive prevention: to empower every child and adult with essential life skills so that they are able to flourish, regardless of the challenges they face.

This session will explore how the Choose Love formula serves as a powerful solution for managing high-stress environments and improving long-term mental health. The evening will conclude with a Q&A session. This is an open space for parents, students, and educators to talk directly with Scarlett and Ellie about how we can make choosing love a daily practice in our homes and schools.

What we will discuss:

• Essential life skills: The most effective ways to combat stress, isolation, and mental health crises that have affected our community.
• Practical Solutions for Parents: How you can use these simple methods at home to help your kids navigate pressure and build lasting resilience.
• Creating a Safety Net: How cultivating compassion can transform our town’s culture and provide a protective layer for our most vulnerable neighbors.
• A Personal Journey: Hear from Ellie O’Kane on how these specific Choose Love skills have made a daily, tangible impact on navigating the pressures of school and life in Darien.

About the Panelists

Scarlett Lewis is the founder of the Choose Love Movement™ a non-profit that has positively influenced millions of children and educators in every state in the US and 135 countries. After the tragic loss of her son Jesse in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Scarlett founded Choose Love and created revolutionary, award-winning, proactive and preventative solutions that teach essential life skills to help individuals learn and grow from pain instead of being overcome by it.

Ellie O’Kane is a high school junior and Youth Ambassador for Choose Love. An advocate for youth mental health, she is dedicated to cultivating kindness and emotional intelligence in the next generation. Through her work with the Choose Love Movement, Ellie strives to create a more compassionate world by teaching others how to choose love in every situation, regardless of the circumstances.