BONUS: How One Picture Book is Teaching 105,000 Kids Empathy

This S5E2 BONUS Schoolutions Teaching Strategies conversation explores the sinking feeling of not knowing what to say when someone you care about is hurting. The video highlights how one picture book is teaching empathy to over 105,000 kids, providing tools for how to support others. Silence can feel like abandonment, but even small acts of communication can make a big difference for cancer patients.

Empathy isn't taught—it's caught. I reflect on my transformative conversation with Brett Fox (@Hopecam) and Suzanne Stone (@Livestrong) about their picture book "My Brave Friend" and reveal how we can proactively prepare children for emotional emergencies.

Discover three game-changing revelations: how 105,000 students learned empathy through real experience, why we need proactive versus reactive approaches to crisis support, and how isolation affects entire families—not just patients.

This episode will shift your perspective on classroom management, student engagement, and creating inclusive classrooms where every child learns to approach learning with courage. Make sure to watch the original S5E2  @schoolutionspodcast interview with Brett and Suzanne, including linked show notes.

Perfect for teachers, education coaches, school administrators, caregivers, homeschoolers, and anyone committed to raising compassionate humans. 

Learn practical teaching tips for building empathy, effective teaching strategies for emotional preparedness, and how to create a supportive school culture through challenging times.

Don't wait for crisis to strike—get "My Brave Friend" for your classroom or home library today and start these critical conversations now.

Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction: When We Freeze in Crisis
1:00 - The Power of Connection: 105,000 More Empathetic Humans  
2:00 - Welcome & Episode Overview
3:00 - Revelation #1: Teaching Empathy Without Knowing It
5:00 - Revelation #2: Proactive vs Reactive Mindset Shift
7:00 - Revelation #3: Isolation Affects Entire Families
9:00 - Three Action Steps You Can Take Right Now
11:00 - Final Thoughts: Courage & Showing Up
12:00 - Call to Action & Closing

Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child. 

📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com 
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

Don't forget to  👍LIKE this video if it helped you, 🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators! https://www.youtube.com/@schoolutionspodcast/

#Hopecam #Livestrong #MyBraveFriend #Schoolutions #SchoolutionsTeachingStrategies #EmpathyEducation #ClassroomManagement #StudentEngagement #InclusiveTeaching #TeacherSupport #WholeChild #EducationStrategies #ParentCommunication #SchoolCulture #TeacherCoaching #StudentMotivation #ProfessionalDevelopment #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #AntiBiasTeaching #ProKidMindset #StudentSuccess #ThrivingStudents #EmpoweredEducators #InspiredTeaching #EducationTransformation #TeacherImpact #SchoolImprovement #FamilyPartnerships #HomeschoolSupport #EffectiveTeaching #InnovativeTeaching #CaregiverSupport #EducationAtHome #InstructionalStrategies

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

[00:00:00] You know that sinking feeling when someone you care about is going through something absolutely devastating and you just freeze. You want to help, but you don't know what to say, so you end up saying nothing at all, and then you feel terrible because you know your silence probably feels like abandonment to them.

I've been there, we've all been there, but here's what's been haunting me all week after my conversation with Brett Fox and Suzanne Stone. We teach our kids fire drills, active shooter drills. We talk about stranger danger. We prepare for emergencies we hope will never happen. So why don't we prepare them for emotional emergencies?

Think about this. Brett shared that through their work with Hopecam, they have connected 6,000 kids facing cancer with 105,000 of their classmates. In doing this, they've [00:01:00] created 105,000 more empathetic humans, not through a curriculum or a lesson plan, but through real lived experience. And that's when it hit me.

We're waiting until we're drowning to look for the life preserver, but what if it was already there? Hanging on the wall? Clearly marked and ready to grab? Today I'm talking about how one beautiful picture book called My Brave Friend is changing the way entire communities think about crisis, connection and what it really means to show up for each other.

Because here's the truth, empathy isn't taught, it's caught. And the question isn't whether hard times will touch your world. It's whether you'll be ready to love people through them. So get ready. Because this conversation is going to shift how you think about preparing the kids in your life to be the kind of humans our world desperately needs.[00:02:00] 

This is Schoolutions Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers to ensure every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive.

Hi everyone, and welcome back to your Friday bonus episode. I'm Olivia Wahl, and I have been sitting with Monday's conversation with Brett Fox and Suzanne Stone all week long. If you have not listened to Monday's conversation yet, pause this episode and go back it’s season five, episode two. It's called How One Picture Book is Saving Kids from Cancer Isolation.

There were so many layers to unpack from their work with My Brave Friend, the beautiful picture book that they co-created. And honestly, some things they said have completely [00:03:00] shifted how I think about crisis, community and what it really means to be prepared. So grab that cup of coffee, or in my case, it's my third one today and let me share three revelations from our conversation that I cannot stop thinking about. 

So my first revelation is we are teaching empathy sometimes without even knowing. When Brett mentioned that through Hopecam, they've connected 6,000 kids with 105,000 classmates, and in doing so, they've taught empathy to each of those 105,000 kids I paused and it really hit me. 105,000 children learned empathy. 

Not through a curriculum or a lesson plan, but through a real lived experience with a friend facing something unimaginable. And this made me reflect on my own classroom years. How often did I miss [00:04:00] opportunities to teach empathy organically? 

We get so focused on our standards and our pacing guides that I think sometimes we forget some of the most important learning happens in those unplanned moments when life interrupts our carefully crafted lessons. So here's what I'm taking away. 

Every time we help a child understand difference, struggle, or challenge in their peer group, we're not just helping that one situation. We're creating more empathetic humans who will carry that understanding into every future relationship they have. So then I ask myself, I'm asking you, and this is for caregivers and teachers. When was the last time that we slowed down enough to let a teachable moment about empathy actually happen? When did we last prioritize emotional learning over academic learning, especially at this beginning of the year time where building [00:05:00] community is so critical.

My second revelation after the conversation with Brett and Suzanne, proactive versus reactive. We have to have a complete mind shift. Suzanne said something that made me a little uncomfortable at first. She talked about being proactive instead of reactive, and my initial thought was, but how can you prepare for something so devastating?

And then I realized, we do this everywhere else. We have fire drills. We teach kids about stranger safety. We have earthquake drills in California and tornado drills in the Midwest. We prepare for emergencies we hope will never happen. So then why don't we prepare enough for the emotional emergencies? Why don't we prepare communities for when someone is struggling?

And here's what hit me. Too often we wait until we're drowning to look for the life preserver. [00:06:00] But what if it was already there hanging on the wall, clearly marked ready to grab. That's what Brett and Suzanne have created, not just with their book, but with their entire approach. 

We heard them both say, don't wait for a child in your school to be diagnosed with cancer, to figure out how to talk about it. Don't wait for your own child to have questions about their friend's illness, to have answers ready. This also reminded me that it's really important to have these conversations in our own families. 

Too often, as I said, we talk about fire safety, but do we really talk about what it means when someone gets sick? Have we prepared our kids to be good friends to someone who's struggling? Have I prepared myself to support another parent or caregiver whose world has been turned upside down? [00:07:00] The answer honestly was no when I asked myself this, and now that can change because of My Brave Friend.

My third revelation, the isolation isn't just about the patient. And this one really got to me because when Suzanne talked about how entire ecosystems fall apart when a child's diagnosed with cancer, it's not just the child who becomes isolated, it's the whole family. Parents may lose their support network because people don't know what to say or how to help. Suzanne mentioned something so simple and yet I found it profound. If you're a family navigating cancer with your child, reach out to your friends and let them know, please don't abandon our family - we need…and let them know what you need.

Maybe it's just a text to say, hi, how are you? What if we went for a walk? And if you [00:08:00] have a friend or a family, you know, going through childhood cancer, reach out. Ask them how they're doing. Go for a walk, offer to bring meals. I love the idea that Suzanne shared about having cards made and sending those to the family. And as someone who's experienced loss in my family, this hit hard. Sometimes it can feel like abandonment. And it's not because people don't care, but they truly just don't know what to say. 

Here's what I learned from Brett and Suzanne. You don't need to have the perfect words. You don't need to understand their medical journey. You need to just consistently show up with love. So here is my challenge for you. Three actions you can take right now. And for me, this is coming directly from my conversation with Brett and Suzanne. First, get proactive about emotional preparedness. If you are a caregiver, have that conversation with your kids about what it means when friends are [00:09:00] going through hard things.

If you're a teacher, add My Brave Friend to your classroom library before you need it. If you're a community member, think about what resources your school or neighborhood has in place for families in crisis. Second practice showing up imperfectly. The next time someone in your circle's struggling, and I mean any kind of struggling, don't wait until you know the perfect thing to say. Send the text, make the call, bring the meal - show up. Third, expand your definition of teaching. Whether you're in a classroom or raising kids at home, remember that empathy is caught more than it's taught. I'll say that again. Empathy is caught more than it's taught. Look for those moments when life gives you curricula you didn't plan for and lean into them.

And [00:10:00] here's what Brett and Suzanne really taught me. Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's showing up despite the fear. It's having hard conversations. It's being prepared to love people through their worst moments. And if we can teach our kids and ourselves to do that, we're not just creating better students or more successful people, we're creating more compassionate humans, which our world needs now more than ever.

I wanna leave you with one final thought from our conversation. Brett mentioned that the most important feedback they get comes from the families and teachers who are actually living through these experiences. The real experts, she said, are the people in the trenches. This reminds me that wisdom often comes from those who are walking the hardest paths.

Sometimes the best teachers aren't the ones with the degrees or the credentials. They're the ones who've learned from necessity, who've had to become brave [00:11:00] because life demanded it. Thank you for spending these few minutes with me reflecting on Monday's conversation. Again, if you haven't listened to the full episode with Brett and Suzanne, I really encourage you to do so.

Their work is changing lives, and their book, My Brave Friend, is a resource every community needs. I'll see you Monday for another conversation that I hope will make us all better at this beautiful, challenging work of caring for kids and each other. Until then, keep showing up with courage. Take care.

Schoolutions Teaching Strategies is created, produced and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Now I want to hear from you.

Send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com. [00:12:00] Let me know how you are planning to listen to the voices in your community. The parent juggling a child's medical needs, the teacher supporting a grieving student, the kid who's learned to be brave at eight years old. They have things to teach us about resilience, about community, about what really matters. 

And then take what you learn and pay it forward because that's how we build the kind of communities where no one faces their hardest moments alone. And don't wait for a child in your circle to face a medical crisis. Get My Brave Friend for your classroom or home library today, and have that conversation with your kids about supporting friends through hard times. And remember, you don't need the perfect words. You just need to consistently show up with love. 

And with that said, make sure to tune in every Monday for the best research-backed teaching [00:13:00] strategies you can apply right away to better the lives of the children in your care. And stay tuned for my bonus episodes every Friday where I'll reflect and share connections to what I learned from the guest that week. See you then.