Elizabeth Simmons is a life coach. She began her business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is using her skills to help high school students.

"With the kids, it's group coaching,” she said. “I'm working with a teacher and we are on a virtual platform, and today we are going over criticism, which is one of the parts of growth mindset.”

Simmons says learning from home leaves many students feeling disconnected. She says it's important to think and talk about the positives.

Right now, she’s working with students from Old Town High School in Maine. It’s an interactive class where she asks students questions and they respond on a virtual platform. Killian Burns, a student in the class, says it’s been helpful.

"It's good to talk things out and tell people how you feel about different things, because there's so much going on right now, and it's pretty overwhelming, especially for a high school student,” Burns said. “I mean, I was hanging out with my friends, I was driving and doing all of these things, and now I'm not. It's been really tough.

“It's kind of a bummer, but it's good to have people. It's like a mini-community. I love it; it's awesome.”

Simmons says they're helping students get through the pandemic, but also helping them plan for the future.

“We are going to be going into goal setting for them as well, Simmons said. “They're going to learn how to set proper goals, how to plan for obstacles that are going to come with those goals; how to set them up from the top down. These are skills they can take with them throughout their whole lives.”

Simmons is hoping to expand to at least five schools. For more information, you can visit www.strength-grace.com.