Surrounded by poverty and escalating violence, a San Francisco middle school committed to peace and embraced a program of meditation that has made students feel safer, teachers more productive, and brought unity and purpose to the school.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9-phWL8t08&feature=youtu.be

The beginning of the school year is often an exciting time filled with decorating classrooms, collaborating with staff, meeting families, and more. Many schools and districts are also planning for daily practices that combat stress and innovative interventions that actually teach skills. Why? Take a look at these sobering statistics:

• Stress is the number one cause of disease in America. 3 out of every 4 doctor visits are because of stress. At the core, stress is America’s #1 Health Problem.
• More than two thirds of children in the U.S. report experiencing a traumatic event by age 16.
• Stress and trauma impact school performance. Research shows that students who experience chronic stress and trauma have a lower GPA, higher rate of absenteeism, increased dropouts, increased suspension/expulsion, and decreased reading ability.
• Suspensions drastically increase the chance of students dropping out, which increases their chance of going to prison. In fact, our...

Teaching is the third most stressful career in America. One out of every two educators will leave the profession within the first five years. These stats illustrate just how much stress is dramatically impacting educators. We are losing great teachers each year.

It seems that we can no longer turn away from creating a culture where staff well-being is the foundation. After all, it's vital to take care of ourselves, so that we can serve from our highest potential. Our stress effects how we show up for students, staff, and families.

Self-care is not limited to staying hydrating and getting eight hours of sleep. While those activities are very important, there are many ways to fill your cup and nourish all pieces of your being. Take a look at some simple practices: 

Personal: Honor your true self and do one thing you enjoy once/week.

Physical: Exercise for 20 minutes/day.

Financial: Splurge or save (depending on the day).

Social: Reach out for support and connect with...

A high school senior started a unique club called We Dine Together to make sure no one in his school sits alone at lunch. As Steve Hartman reports, the message is to make outsiders always feel accepted.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdDa2outstI&feature=youtu.be

The school year is coming to an end. More than likely, you’ve experienced a combination of love, laughter, frustration, joy, sadness, early mornings, late nights, ups and downs...

There were lessons, there were pivotal moments and there was simply just never enough time. This school year will never happen again - your students are different now and so are you. Whether you’ve had a challenging year or the best year yet, take some time to capture the lessons and create an epic school year to come.

REFLECTION EXPERIMENT:
Take a moment to reflect on your school year. Answer some or all of these questions BEFORE leaving for summer break:

• What created the most joy this school year?
• What was my biggest lesson this year?
• How did I show up effectively for my students?
• How did I show up ineffectively for my students?
• What is one thing I’m proud of?
• What will I do more of next school year?
• What will I do less of next school year?
• What was my favorite moment from this school...

  Source:https://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work

Quotable: "The greatest competitive edge advantage in the modern economy is a positive and engaged brain. When the human brain is positive, creativity triples, productivity rises by 31 and we live longer, healthier lives."

These research based habits include:
1. Gratitude
2. The Doubler
3. Exercise
4. Stillness
5. Kindness

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Wellness Warrior Spotlight
Name: Anne Malver
Occupation: Elementary School Counselor

How were you able to create a Wednesday Elective Period at the Elementary level?  

This was started in one of our elementary schools in the districts and our principal decided to adopt it as well. Our teaching staff LOVE it.  Teachers are able to bring their passions to students each week for 40 minutes during this elective period. We have two 40-minute elective periods every Wednesday - one for K-2, the other for 3-5. Some teachers and students grow plants in our greenhouse while others teach drawing and painting.  We have one staff member teaching coding and another taking students outside, and teaching wilderness survival skills. Our music instructor teaches students bucket drumming while another staff member teaches drama. The list goes on... Anything goes during this elective time!

What activities/curriculum are your students working through during this elective?   

I...

QUOTABLE: "Childhood self-control predicts physical health, personal wealth and public safety. Self-control is more important than intelligence and social class."

This TED Talk walks through the benefits of teaching mindfulness to our students and challenges the idea of why we don't do it more often. Our focus is often on the test scores, the quality of a paper, or the ability to spell properly. The skills underneath all of those standards can be achieved through mindfulness.  Mindfulness is the foundation of all learning, it is teaching others how to pay attention, focus, attain to a task, and retain information. In turn, these skills will help students accomplish those academic tasks, and become more successful adults.

SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yJPcdiLEkI