Sarasota County high schoolers will learn stress-management techniques developed at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital starting in the 2026-27 school year, according to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast.
The nonprofit, which serves Manatee and Sarasota counties including Lakewood Ranch, announced the school district's adoption of the Resilient Youth Program on July 23. The Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation awarded the organization a grant in 2026 to strengthen its mentoring programs.
The news matters here. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast served more than 1,800 youth across its 10-county footprint during the 2025-26 program year, including roughly 900 in Sarasota County alone.
President and CEO Kamala Martinez and Vice President of Programs Jeanie Baik presented the program's results at the 2026 Big Brothers Big Sisters National Conference in Atlanta alongside resilience expert Tom Klisiewicz. Their session highlighted how the organization became an early adopter of the curriculum, which was developed through the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.
"Resilience is not an abstract concept — it is a learned skill set that can change the trajectory of a young person's life," Martinez said in the organization's announcement.
She added that embedding evidence-based tools into mentoring relationships gives young people consistent access to strategies for managing stress and succeeding in school.
The program teaches students to identify personal stress triggers, understand the body's fight-flight-or-freeze response, and activate what researchers call the relaxation response through evidence-based techniques.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast piloted the curriculum in fall 2025 at five agency sites across Collier and Sarasota counties after 25 staff members completed specialized training in summer 2025. The organization is the 11th largest Big Brothers Big Sisters agency in the country.
Sarasota County Schools began training high school health and physical education teachers in the Resilient Youth certification in summer 2026, according to the nonprofit, in preparation for classroom rollout during the 2026-27 school year.
The organization said it plans to expand the program throughout its full 10-county service area, which includes Manatee County and the broader Lakewood Ranch community.
What's ahead
- Sarasota County Schools implements the Resilient Youth curriculum in high school health and physical education classes for the 2026-27 school year.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast continues expanding the program across its 10-county region.
