Rachael Kessler (1946–2010) was a writer, teacher, and the founder of the PassageWorks Institute, an innovative nonprofit that partners with schools to provide curriculum and professional development for supporting students in the high-risk transition years. Her focus was on integrating heart, spirit, and community into the classroom and creating curricula that offer constructive school-based rites of passage for students during the life cycle of schooling. She had worked since 1985 to develop a framework and model for nurturing the inner life of students and teachers that simultaneously promotes personal development in educators, enhances classroom pedagogy, and fosters strong teacher-student relationships. Comprehensive, systematic and theory-based, the model is highly attuned to the needs and language of public schools. Called by Daniel Goleman in the New York Times a “leader in a new movement for emotional literacy,” Kessler is also a coauthor of Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators (ASCD, 1997), and published widely in the fields of social and emotional learning, transformative learning, teacher education, spirituality in education, and holistic education. She was also the proud mother of three grown sons--Shane, Ari, and Mikael Gerzon-Kessler. Contact Information: The PassageWorks Institute, 2355 Canyon, Ste. 104, Boulder, CO 80301. Web site: www.passageworks.org. E-mail: info@passageworks.org.