Healthy Touch Connects Communities
Donation protected
My name is Dawn, and I believe as a society we have made it difficult to give and receive healthy touch, especially between adults and children. As a massage therapist of 18+ years, I have been studying the impact of touch on individual's sense of connection to society, connection to self (self-worth), and success. I have read preliminary touch studies on nature vs. nurture, and studies that show correlations of healthy touch leading to increased success.
I am raising money to help find and write a grant that would study healthy touch in the classroom. Healthy touch could look like the teacher giving a high-five or fist-bump to each student every day. We would measure both teacher and student perception on keys such as: Feeling of connection between students & instructor, feeling of connection between students, self-worth, and so on. We will also measure levels of grades, participation, and enthusiasm of the students. These would all be measured before the study starts, at multiple times during the study, just after the study, and one year later (if grant timeline allows.)
If you are interested in having your school participate, you can contact me to be added to the list!
The money will be used to fund a professional to help me find and write the grant(s), as well as help fund the grant itself (some grants ask that the grant-holder have money in the game.) It will also help me fund some small social marketing campaigns to recruit schools, as well as an assistant to interview schools, teachers, and school board members to make sure the schools we choose are a good fit and are able to follow through with the grant reporting expectations.
Do you know how people are looking for deeper levels of connection in areas such as facebook? They are trying to connect, look for validation, and feel part of the community as a whole. Reintroducing healthy touch can help create that sense of connection and validation. This is a critical time to join people rather than separate them, and I believe this study on touch can be a powerful tool to leverage the ability of coaches, teachers, and aides to make a powerful connection with their students and become strong role-models in their lives. And when one person feels more connected to the community and to strong role-models, they tend to connect more powerfully in a positive way with others as well. I believe September 1st of 2016 would be a great time to begin this process and would need the funding by then.
As my passion, I would be extremely grateful to anyone who wished to contribute. But beyond me, this study has the potential to break new ground-imagine it empowering people to reconnect with others in strong ways that are not artificial and don't require technology. This study has the potential to increase student interactions in class, thus increasing their potential for long-term engagement and future success.
I am raising money to help find and write a grant that would study healthy touch in the classroom. Healthy touch could look like the teacher giving a high-five or fist-bump to each student every day. We would measure both teacher and student perception on keys such as: Feeling of connection between students & instructor, feeling of connection between students, self-worth, and so on. We will also measure levels of grades, participation, and enthusiasm of the students. These would all be measured before the study starts, at multiple times during the study, just after the study, and one year later (if grant timeline allows.)
If you are interested in having your school participate, you can contact me to be added to the list!
The money will be used to fund a professional to help me find and write the grant(s), as well as help fund the grant itself (some grants ask that the grant-holder have money in the game.) It will also help me fund some small social marketing campaigns to recruit schools, as well as an assistant to interview schools, teachers, and school board members to make sure the schools we choose are a good fit and are able to follow through with the grant reporting expectations.
Do you know how people are looking for deeper levels of connection in areas such as facebook? They are trying to connect, look for validation, and feel part of the community as a whole. Reintroducing healthy touch can help create that sense of connection and validation. This is a critical time to join people rather than separate them, and I believe this study on touch can be a powerful tool to leverage the ability of coaches, teachers, and aides to make a powerful connection with their students and become strong role-models in their lives. And when one person feels more connected to the community and to strong role-models, they tend to connect more powerfully in a positive way with others as well. I believe September 1st of 2016 would be a great time to begin this process and would need the funding by then.
As my passion, I would be extremely grateful to anyone who wished to contribute. But beyond me, this study has the potential to break new ground-imagine it empowering people to reconnect with others in strong ways that are not artificial and don't require technology. This study has the potential to increase student interactions in class, thus increasing their potential for long-term engagement and future success.
Organizer
Dawn Bennett
Organizer
White Bear Township, MN
