For many of us—especially in the United States—the political landscape in which we currently find ourselves is increasingly unnerving. With so much divisiveness in our public discourse and an often overwhelming amount of troubling news stories, it can be difficult to find moments of inspiration, hopefulness, or clarity. Now, more than ever, we (the Out of Eden Learn team) feel especially motivated to continue our attempts to connect youth across difference. Reading through student feedback, we are often in awe of the thoughtful things students say about unity, solidarity, and understanding.

Our #RayofHope social media campaign is an attempt to highlight these student insights and share them with the wider Out of Eden Learn community, not only to show the promises of our program and curriculum but to inspire and motivate. We hope you find these reflections as impactful as we do.

As the project continues to grow, we intend to collect and share more quotes like these. We also invite Out of Eden Learn educators to share any inspirational student insights with us and the wider community using the hashtags #RayofHope and #EdenLearn on Instagram and Twitter. We look forward to hearing what your students have to say and thank you for fostering the sort of respectful and open learning environments that elicit these promising student reflections.