The United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum was today named a recipient of the El Paso County Community Impact grant, funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. The USOPM will use the funds to expand its resiliency-skills program, Becoming Your Personal Best, and reach students at more than a dozen underserved schools across Colorado Springs.
The Museum recognized early on a unique opportunity to address the local youth mental and behavioral health crisis. Becoming Your Personal Best launched last year and is a comprehensive resiliency program produced by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in partnership with the Colorado Health Foundation. BYPB is a research-based curriculum that shares inspiring life stories from Olympians and Paralympians, along with skill-building activities to help young people learn about meeting personal challenges, growing through failure, and developing a positive mindset.
Resiliency is lacking in youth of all ages and has become a major challenge in education and life. Students are increasingly seeking help for, and having emotional crises over, problems of everyday life such as school, interpersonal conversations, relationships, peer pressure, and many other issues. Resiliency education outcomes have promise to positively impact the mental health of young people.
This multi-faceted program provides youth with essential social- and emotional-learning tools that build resiliency. Funding from ARPA will help lower-income schools complete a capstone of the project: an onsite immersive Museum experience with instruction and direct interaction with an Olympic or Paralympic athlete through various offerings and experiences.
