Reach Your Own Buzzer
Rachel Degutz Berns – 6x American Ninja Warrior presents an engaging SEL assembly empowering students to face their fears and reach their goals.
In-Person for Schools and Camps!
Age Range: K-12Request Pricing & Dates
Reach Your Own Buzzer
American Ninja Warrior athlete, Rachel Degutz Berns brings a high-energy, powerful SEL assembly designed to build students’ character, teamwork, courage, and resilience. Through powerful storytelling and exciting video clips from her TV appearances, Rachel shows students what it looks like to go from self-doubt to achieving big dreams, like hitting a buzzer on national television. This motivational program inspires students to take on challenges, develop perseverance, and surround themselves with positive influences. Students learn from a professional athlete how to believe in themselves when something feels impossible, while gaining a growth mindset and practical tools to overcome obstacles and reach their own goals, their own buzzer.
Rachel takes students on a journey back to when she was their age, sharing how it took her years to take a leap of faith and begin pursuing Ninja Warrior. She opens up about the self-doubt that held her back and how she once questioned whether she was even worthy of a big dream like hitting the buzzer after completing an entire Ninja Warrior course. Rachel emphasizes that if she had just one person who told her she wasn’t crazy for having such a big dream, she would have found the confidence to start much sooner. Now, her mission is to help students believe they are worthy of their own big dreams. She introduces the importance of discovering your “why”, the deeper reason that gives you the courage to pursue something challenging in the first place.
Rachel also shares the reality of rejection, including the years she was turned away from the show. She recounts her first experience on a Ninja Warrior obstacle, where she failed, and how reconnecting with her “why” helped her push forward instead of giving up.
The assembly then shifts to her journey of dedicated training and the impact of surrounding herself with positive influences. Rachel discusses how to navigate competition with peers in a healthy way, how to lean into your individual strengths, and how growth comes from persistence. Through engaging video clips of her many attempts to hit the buzzer, students see firsthand how embracing the “superpower of consistency” ultimately led her to achieve her goal.
Throughout the program, Rachel connects each story to practical, relatable lessons, showing students (and staff) how they can apply these same principles in their everyday lives, no matter their age or goals. She guides students to develop their own goals and prepare to overcome challenges along the way.
Speaking Topics:
The Superpower of Consistency: Triumph over failure & build resilience
Together We Thrive: Empower others & the importance of mentorship
Stand Up Anyway: Find courage among fear
Stay the Course: Strategies for healthy habits (staying away from drugs, vaping & alcohol)
Anti-Bullying: Conquer the course, not each other
Social Emotional Learning
Goal Discovery & Planning: workshops
Everyone loves Rachel! She will leave your group with meaningful action items!
The assembly can be modified to meet the needs of school initiatives and grants, such as Red Ribbon Week, SEL Week, Anti-Bullying, and Anti-Drugs.
About Rachel
Rachel Degutz Berns is a 6x competitor and 4x finalist on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior. She is a former middle school science teacher with a Master’s degree in Education and Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rutgers University. She also completed the Zimmerman Speaker Training Series. As a teacher, she saw countless students struggle with self-doubt and negative comparisons. Her assembly ignites students to build confidence, and take action toward their goals.
