On Friday, January 9, 2009, Ilchi Lee, president of BR Consulting and creator of Brain Education, visited PS 65 Mother Hale Academy, a Title I school in the South Bronx. He taught students and consulted with teachers and administrators regarding how they can utilize Brain Education to expand their school's brain potential. This school visit followed his keynote address at the United Nations conference on the role of Brain Education in promoting global mental health, January 8.

The purpose of Ilchi Lee's visit to PS 65 -- a school located in a poverty-stricken neighborhood in which drugs, violence, and unstable housing conditions are all too common -- was to instill a sense of hope in the students and teachers. While visiting classrooms, he repeatedly asked the students what their dream was for their future. After the students finished explaining their dreams, he stated definitively, "If you choose it, it will happen. Please plant the seed of your dream in your brain, and nurture it well so it can grow and you can achieve your dream for your life."

Ilchi Lee pointed to his own life story to illustrate his point. He described how difficult it was for him to focus in school and that he did not have good health as a boy. This is what motivated him to research how to better utilize the human brain to promote health, happiness and peace. The primary result of this 30-year span of brain research, which includes the founding of the International Brain Education Association and the University of Brain Education, is the development of hundreds of programs and methods. One of these programs, the Brain Education for Enhanced Learning (BE for BL) school program, is the 15-lesson curriculum in which all 68 of the PS 65 teachers were trained this fall. The BE for EL program, which is currently being used by 600 teachers in over 70 schools in New York City, includes physical, emotional and cognitive exercises designed to empower students to tap into the infinite potential of their brains.

Students were very excited to showcase to ILchi Lee some of the Brain Education exercises that they had learned. In turn he entertained the children by playing with his trademark walking stick. After gracefully twirling the stick to illustrate its use as a tool for martial arts exercise, he then surprised them by showing the stick's refined role as a traditional Korean flute, and playing impromptu songs for the impressed students. "This stick is like Brain Education," he said. "You can use it for walking or for martial arts exercise to improve your physical health. And that can also make you feel happy. Then you can play beautiful music that makes your brain feel peaceful and can help heal others. A ‘Power Brain' is someone who can create all three -- health, happiness and peace."

Ilchi Lee conducted a Brain Wave Vibration session with a group of enthusiastic teachers. In this session, he explained the rationale behind his Brain Wave Vibration technique. The teachers asked him to lead them through a series of Brain Wave Vibration exercises. They loved the exercises and expressed delight when he announced that he was donating a copy of his Brain Wave Vibration book to every teacher in the school.

Principal Tashon McKeithan, who declared how honored the school was by Ilchi Lee's visit, received an autographed copy of the book. After his session with the teachers, McKeithan stated, "Brain Education has really transformed the atmosphere here. Our teachers are happier and calmer, and our students are focused and more engaged. We truly appreciate this program and this special visit."

While the BE for EL program has been at PS 65, the school has been collecting data on teacher stress levels and student self-efficacy, and plans to assess it at the end of January 2009. While the research data, which includes a control group from a sister school in Brooklyn, is focused on the 4th grade, McKeithan said, "I'm confident that if we checked any classroom in the school, I know we'd see significant improvement from last year."

This confidence in Brain Education’s effects on every aspect of the students’ performance, as well as the school’s culture, is an inspiring vote for its adoption in many other schools in the United States.