Press & Media Kit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Launch Date: October 7, 2025
Location: San Jose, CA

San Jose Educator Launches Kickstarter to Teach the Skill AI Can't Replace: Human Connection

George Manthey, Ed.D., has spent his life in California's classrooms and school districts. He has seen students master equations but struggle to resolve simple disagreements. He has watched professionals lose opportunities not from lack of talent, but from lack of communication.

Now, as the Bay Area debates which jobs AI will take, George is raising a different question: What happens if we stop teaching kids how to be human?

That question inspired ReFramed, a new educational card game and curriculum launching on Kickstarter October 7, 2025. Developed with Arizona-based innovators, ReFramed turns decades of psychology into fast, engaging scenarios that teach people to:
• Think with clarity
• Speak with empathy
• Act with accountability
• Relate with compassion

Each card can be practiced in under a minute. Repeated daily, these habits build the trust, presence, and human connection that machines will never replicate.

Why Now:
• AI is rising, but communication, empathy, and trust remain the ultimate future-proof skills.
• Families, schools, and workplaces are struggling with breakdowns in connection across generations.
• The Bay Area is ground zero for technology disruption, making this movement timely and urgent.

The Launch:
• Kickstarter campaign begins October 7, 2025.
• Goal: Fund the first national production run and digital companion app.
• Early backers receive VIP access to decks and facilitator guides.
• Stretch goals: subsidize decks for Title I schools and underserved families.

Quotes:
George Manthey, Ed.D.:
• "AI can pass exams, but it cannot look a child in the eye and heal a wound of misunderstanding."
• "Every miscommunication avoided is a relationship saved. That is the revolution we need."
• "ReFramed is the tool I wish every teacher and parent had decades ago."

Press Contact: admin@reframedgame.com
Website: https://reframedgame.com
Kickstarter: https://reframedgame.com/ks

FOUNDER BIOS

George Manthey - Educator and Advocate for Connection
George Manthey has spent his career in education, working with students, teachers, and families in the Bay Area. Over decades of service, he saw the same pattern repeated: students often had the ability to succeed academically, but lacked the confidence and communication tools to thrive. That insight drove him to co-found ReFramed, a project designed to give families, schools, and workplaces a practical way to teach the soft skills that build connection. George believes the true gap in education isn't content - it's communication - and he is committed to closing it for the next generation.

Scott Manthey - Innovator and Creative Technologist
Scott Manthey is a lifelong martial artist, inventor, and creative technologist. From building consumer products to relaunching legacy media brands, Scott has spent his career turning big ideas into tangible systems. As co-founder of ReFramed, he brings deep expertise in product design, intellectual property, and scaling educational tools. For Scott, the inspiration is personal: he has seen how miscommunication fractures families and communities, and believes ReFramed can heal those gaps by making the daily practice of soft skills as engaging as any game.

Ariel Tourner - Educator and Builder of Bridges
Ariel Tourner's path began in AmeriCorps, where she tutored middle-school students and created curriculum to help kids find their footing in the classroom. With a degree in Kinesiology and years of online tutoring experience, Ariel has worked with learners of all ages and needs. She grew up watching her mother devote her career to first-generation college students, and inherited the belief that access means nothing without connection. As a co-founder of ReFramed, Ariel brings that perspective forward, determined to help families, schools, and communities break cycles of silence and learn to listen, speak, act, and relate in healthier ways.

PRESS QUOTES

George Manthey - Educator and Advocate for Connection
• "We don't have a technology problem. We have a listening problem. ReFramed is designed to solve it."
• "In classrooms I saw bright kids stumble, not because they couldn't learn math, but because they couldn't express themselves. That's what we're changing."
• "Every family argues. Every workplace struggles. The difference between breaking apart and growing stronger is whether people have the tools to listen."
• "Soft skills aren't soft at all - they're the hardest part of life. They're also the most important."
• "Kids practice sports and music every day. Why don't we practice listening and communication the same way? ReFramed makes that possible."
• "Connection is the one skill a machine will never master. That's why we have to."
• "We are raising a generation that can use every app on a phone but cannot look someone in the eye. ReFramed is my way of helping change that."
• "I have seen brilliant students fail, not because they lacked knowledge, but because they lacked the words to defend themselves. That is what keeps me up at night."
• "The greatest technology in the world will not matter if people cannot sit down at a table and talk honestly."
• "ReFramed is not about fixing people. It is about reminding them that connection is our birthright."

Ariel Tourner - Educator and Builder of Bridges
• "I grew up watching first-generation students struggle to find their voices. That is why I built ReFramed - to make sure kids do not have to fight alone."
• "Women give life, but we must also give language. If we want equality, we have to raise children who can speak, listen, and relate."
• "In my tutoring, I saw over and over that what held kids back was not algebra, it was fear. Fear of saying the wrong thing, fear of not being heard. ReFramed makes practice safe."
• "Families carry generations of silence and pain. If we can change how we talk to each other at home, we can change everything."

Scott Manthey - Innovator and Creative Technologist
• "I spent years building products, but the most powerful product is still a conversation done right."
• "Martial arts taught me discipline, but life taught me communication is the real fight. ReFramed is how we train for it."
• "Kids practice video games for hours. Imagine if they practiced connection the same way. That is what ReFramed delivers."
• "Every community falls apart for the same reason - people stop listening. I want to give them tools to start again."

PROFESSIONAL TESTIMONIALS

Jeanie Cash - Former Principal & District Administrator
"Wow! I think the cards are a really good idea and much needed. It gets more clear with everything I see. I would love to have had something like this and would have used them in staff meetings with teachers and, also with principals when I was at the district level…to encourage their use."

Jeanie Cash - Retired Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services
"I wish I had these as a resource for educational leaders. The cards and approach are an incredible tool for educational leaders as they help others to re-frame conversations that could become difficult or challenging."

Greta Salmi - Leadership Coach, Professional
"The reframing tips and sentence starters in reFramed will be useful with my work coaching new admins. They often struggle with how to approach difficult parents and problems with teachers, who see the world very differently."

State Education Official - Department of Education
"I am sure any wise district will find the money to support the use of reFramed for their staff. It is valuable and efficacious to continuous school improvement."

Mariana Dominguez - Licensed Psychologist
"As a licensed psychologist who is mentoring psychologists that are working toward their licensing exam, I believe the skills being taught in reFramed would be very helpful. The cards are an effective way to build these skills."

Richard Marcotte - Business Professional
"Impressive! I'm hoping the future holds corporate training/facilitators."

Sienna L. - Seventh Grade Student
"It's a good thing to use so you can stop and think and pick one thing to say—instead of just saying the first thing that comes to mind."