Wrapping up 2020

by Kristina Freeman December 10, 2020

How to say goodbye to 2020
Highlights from an unexpected year
We release our 2020 Impact Report

How do we wrap up this extraordinary year? How do we get meaningful closure on what has been, for some, an incredibly uncomfortable, challenging and nerve-wracking year? To reach the holidays in a broken heap would be the final insult - so let’s not do that! Instead, we’d like to share how we plan to kick off 2021 with some juice left in the tank.

At Grow Your Mind we think the answer lies in savouring. By savouring, we actively ensure the positive thoughts and emotions of this year are top of mind. What can you celebrate about this year and take with you into the next? Reviewing, savouring and celebrating the big and small positive outcomes of this year also helps us complete the stress cycle.

So please indulge us a moment while we share and savour our celebration list. Because whilst 2020 has been incredibly challenging, it has also been one of great achievement and growth.

At the end of 2019 around 2500 educators and 500 families were using Grow Your Mind. The end of 2020 sees 6000+ educators and 2000+ families (separate from families whose schools have the program) using our program
To date our programs have reached over 100,000+ students
Digital for Teachers, our first online program launched and is already being used by over 800 educators around Australia and abroad. Subscription includes access to a range of amazing content, much of which was created in 2020 and includes our beloved, ‘Guess Who Series’ stories of resilience
Series 1 of The Grow Your Mind Podcast launched and has fans in over 60 countries such as Iraq, Venezuela, Kenya, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Slovakia to name a few. We have also recorded 6 new episodes, dropping in 2021!
ABC National News and Channel 7’s Sunrise show ran stories showcasing the positive impacts Grow Your Mind and the Podcast have had on students and teachers this year
Our partnership with Social Venture Avenue has contributed to their ongoing growth and our partnership with them has given meaningful work, a purpose and community to over 30 people with a range of abilities
In 2020 we launched free community webinars to support families around various mental health and wellbeing topics. To date we’ve had almost 1000 attendees
Our community has had our backs when we needed it most with letters of support, shared social media posts and by donating funds to help create the podcast. A special shout out to the SheEO and B Corp networks!
And lastly we’re excited to share that our smart, generous and hard working team at Grow Your Mind continues to grow

Highlights from our Impact Report

In 2020 we continued to track our impact, you can read the full report in full here.

The results from our 2020 Teacher wellbeing course revealed that after using the Grow Your Mind program:

90% of teachers felt more confident to take care of their mental health
Over 95% committed to spending more time looking after their mental health

And the latest impact data from Woollahra Public School in Sydney showed:

All teachers delivering Grow Your Mind thought it was a worthwhile program
90% felt more confident to teach their students about mental health and how to emotionally regulate
95% felt more confident to teach students how to adopt a benefit mindset and act with kindness
95% reported their students had a greater awareness of the good people and things in their life since doing Grow Your Mind
99% reported their students knew more ways to emotionally regulate since doing Grow Your Mind

And finally, something that now graces our kitchen wall and that I’ll continue to savour well into 2021 is the impact Grow Your Mind has had on my daughter over this challenging year.

“I learnt that resilience is bouncing back after disappointment and hard times. Grow Your Mind taught me lots of things. But mostly it’s okay to not get your way.” Ondine, 8 years

So what is it that you want to remember. What successes, big and small, will you savour and bring with you into 2021 to help you navigate the great unknown?