“Finding Purpose with Project Wayfinder” feat. Director of Strategic Partnerships Tim Klein

Nearly one in three adolescents (31.9%) will meet criteria for an anxiety disorder by the age of 18. While school is in session, high school students are the single most stressed out population in the US. Youth depression and anxiety are rising at alarming rates. In 2016 an estimated 3.1 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States had at least one major depressive episode.  However, based on research, this is not simply because youth have too much to do it is also because they do not know why they are doing it. Only about 1 in 5 teenagers in the US report feeling a sense of purpose. Without this deeper sense of "why" or internal compass, our youth will continue to suffer at epidemic rates. Students who have a purpose in their lives are happier, healthier, more engaged, and less stressed out than their peers without a sense of purpose. The Wayfinder Toolkit is Project Wayfinder’s contribution towards reimagining an adolescent education that supports students to build lives of purpose. 

Tim Klein is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Project Wayfinder and is an award-winning urban educator, clinical therapist and school counselor. He has spent the last decade working intensively with marginalized and underserved students to empower them to pursue meaningful and fulfilling lives. In addition to his work at Project Wayfinder, Tim is a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University and a purpose researcher and design specialist at Boston College.

In this episode, Shane Haggerty talks to Tim about Purpose Learning, how students can find their purpose, the challenges of scaling this new concept of Purpose Learning and about Project Wayfinder. You will learn how your school or your teachers can get involved in this movement.

Project Wayfinder website: https://www.projectwayfinder.com/