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“The Bridge” is all about bridging the connection for learners through social emotional communication support across settings, beginning with school.

Our range of social emotional learning products and services were designed specifically for learners of all ages and abilities, which align with and support integrations of Social and Emotional Learning Supports across Maryland.

Along with many of our colleagues across the country, we have increasingly, year after year, noticed our students struggling to express themselves as it relates to their emotional vocabularies. We sat in session after session, watching our students come up with the bare minimum of emotions: sad, mad, happy, which many times didn’t really fully capture the situation.

SO – we dove into the work of teaching our students GENUINE emotional vocabulary. We teach our students the difference between emotions and body feelings, provide clear definitions and examples, focus on the category of emotion, in order to anchor the language, talk about what these emotions look and feel like in our bodies, and allow learners to explore the variances between their emotions and the emotions of others.


Our mission is to give learners tools to express, clearly, what they are feeling and how others are feeling, in order to be successful and meet their personal goals, particularly as it relates to self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, problem solving, decision making, interpersonal relationships, and perspective taking.


Genuine Emotions Book

Genuine Emotions is an interactive guide to learning and expressing emotions through learning vocabulary, body language, and the uniqueness with which all of this occurs in humans. Clear, genuine communication is essential in academic, social, and career success. 

Available in Hard Copy. Each book purchase comes with a 68-page digital download of lesson plans, Think Sheets and example pages!

Genuine Emotions Poster

This visually compelling poster is designed to complement our "Genuine Emotions'' guidebook, offering a comprehensive visual aid to enhance emotional literacy and understanding among students. Learners love to reference and interact with this poster!

Available in multiple sizes and formats.

Professional Development Courses

An essential part of any tool is the rationale and confidence to implement the tools and strategies.

We offer professional development courses in multiple formats, on various topics, in order to meet your organization’s goals. This tailored approach will ensure your team feels empowered  and confident with supporting your learners. 

We welcome any opportunity to collaborate and further conversations in support of our larger community to help you meet goals and provide learners with enriching educational resources that enhance their learning experience. If you are interested in connecting with us related to The Bridge Initiative, please contact Kara and Briana below.