Character Education

The NFL Foundation is committed to building and supporting a stronger society and helping individual boys and girls—athletes and non-athletes alike—and entire school communities learn about the importance of developing character and healthy relationships through social and emotional learning.

Through strategic partnerships, the NFL Foundation is advancing initiatives that are interactive, engaging, and provide tangible results. These programs work to ensure that middle and high school students have the education and tools necessary to build moral character, navigate complex decision-making and improve conflict resolution.

InSideOut Initiative

The InSideOut Initiative, which is funded by a grant from the NFL Foundation, is a national movement that empowers and equips school communities to provide purpose-based sports experiences for student-athletes by connecting them to transformational coaches in a culture of belonging for their human growth and character development.

InSideOut is committed to creating a sports experience that can:

• Develop the Five Core Competencies of Transformational Leadership in ADs and coaches, resulting in the development of better students not just better athletes.
• Engage ADs and coaches in a shared purpose that results in meaningful adult-student relationships in a high-care community.
• Connect student-athletes to transformational coaches who validate their human potential beyond their contribution to winning.

Former NFL player Joe Ehrmann and high school coaches from around the country discuss the importance of strong character.

For more information, click here.

Character Playbook

The Character Playbook is a free digital education resource that helps middle school students learn how to cultivate and maintain healthy relationships. The NFL Foundation and EVERFI from Blackbaud, the leader in powering social impact through education, created this scalable and evidence-based program which has rolled out across the United States with NFL clubs and players, and has reached more than two million students since its launch in 2016.

Designed for grades six through 12, Character Playbook is composed of two module-based experiential learning courses: Healthy Relationships and Mental Wellness Basics. Together, these virtual learning experiences equip students with tools to help address their interpersonal relationships and mental well-being on a foundational level. The educational resources focus on character education, mental wellness and Black history through the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative. The program is available to U.S. schools at no cost and has been implemented in over 22,000 schools nationwide.

Character Playbook continues to expand to more schools along with the Character Playbook Speaker Series as part of a League-wide initiative to engage more students in the important conversation of why character matters. This virtual classroom experience, hosted by NFL clubs, allows NFL players to virtually join multiple schools in their classrooms and connect lessons taught in Character Playbook modules to life inside and outside of football. Each year, thousands of students are introduced to the topics and themes of Character Playbook because of this virtual offering.

306

In schools, the League expanded its partnership with digital learning curriculum leader EVERFI on 306 and 306: Continuing the Story, high school programs focused on Black History education. The League supports access to this resource for more than 300 high schools across the country, with sponsorship from Inspire Change.

Sharing often unknown stories of Black Americans accomplishments in the arts, sciences, sports and academia, the 306 curriculum showcases real-life stories of those who created positive change in communities across the country. Eighty-three percent of students said the course told stories they had not previously heard. 306 serves as an important education tool that connects students to both contemporary and historical events, and how they are relevant to the country they live in today.

Bridging the Digital Divide

The ability to access computers and the internet has become increasingly important. Unfortunately, there is a growing gap between the underprivileged members of society, especially the poor, rural, elderly and persons with disabilities who do not have access to computers or the internet. The NFL Foundation, in partnership with all 32 clubs, provides financial support, education, equipment and infrastructure through a new grant program aimed at reducing the digital divide in clubs’ local communities.