Middle school kid with long hair looking at the camera

Pre-teen with long hair, smiling at the camera

Middle school child with short hair smiling about courage

For over 30 years, MAXCourage has supported students and teachers in Boston and beyond with our free English Language Arts and Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum.

Stories of courage have a special power to engage and inspire young people. The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum gives educators tools to help students discover their capacity for courage and find a voice to share their personal stories of courage with the world.

GET THE CURRICULUM

number-counter

200000

children wrote essays in 30 years

6500

children and 100 teachers worldwide participate each year

85

dollars is the cost per student

Volunteer for Essay Judging Day!

Monday, February 10th, 2025
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. or 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Northeastern University Alumni Center

Can’t make it in person? A virtual session is also available on Saturday 2/15, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.! (Note that some asynchronous prep is required for the virtual judging format.)

PARTICIPATE IN PERSON

PARTICIPATE VIRTUALLY

Our 2024 Annual Report Is Here!

Read It

2024 Children’s Luncheon!

On Thursday, May 23rd, students from all of our New England partner schools who were published this year gathered in Boston for a special awards luncheon with their teachers, school principals, and family members. As a delightful surprise, each attendee received two tickets to a Boston Red Sox game, thanks to the generous Red Sox Foundation! With nearly 6,500 students participating globally and 80 selected for publication by our panel of volunteer judges, it was a wonderful day of celebration and recognition for our young authors. Congratulations to all!

Read their stories

Thank you to everyone who made our 2024 Gala a success!

With nearly 300 guests attending at The Park Plaza Hotel on April 26, we celebrated the remarkable growth of our domestic program, which has doubled in size over the past two years. A huge thank you to our gala committee, Co-Chairs Astrid Burns, Mimi Eger, and C.J. Hacker, and everyone who supported our small but mighty nonprofit in Mad Men style!

Watch student, teacher, and Alumni testimonials

"I learned I can help others when they struggle and I can teach people how to overcome a hardship."

"I learned that I can be who I want to be. I know who I am, and for now, thats enough."

"I learned I can do anything I put my mind to."

"I have grown a lot from writing that essay. Writing it and winning made me realize that I’m not alone in this."

"I just want to say that I’m blown away with this program. I’ve been so honored to be a part of it. What a beautiful way to honor the memory of Max by making other kids his age feel special about their courage."

"This is an amazing program, and I'm happy to have my students participate in it."

"It is a wonderful curriculum and great exposure for student awareness."

"It was an awesome program that brought a lot of awareness to many different topics and helped students talk about things that are important in their lives."

"This has been a beautiful experience. Thank you so much!"

"This is an absolute amazing program for children who have the strength to put their feelings down on paper and express them!"

"I learned I can help others when they struggle and I can teach people how to overcome a hardship." "I learned that I can be who I want to be. I know who I am, and for now, thats enough." "I learned I can do anything I put my mind to." "I have grown a lot from writing that essay. Writing it and winning made me realize that I’m not alone in this." "I just want to say that I’m blown away with this program. I’ve been so honored to be a part of it. What a beautiful way to honor the memory of Max by making other kids his age feel special about their courage." "This is an amazing program, and I'm happy to have my students participate in it." "It is a wonderful curriculum and great exposure for student awareness." "It was an awesome program that brought a lot of awareness to many different topics and helped students talk about things that are important in their lives." "This has been a beautiful experience. Thank you so much!" "This is an absolute amazing program for children who have the strength to put their feelings down on paper and express them!"