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

Mission: Equipping students and staff with the tools to thrive in school and life. We believe in building strong hearts, minds and bodies.

Vision: Every school in America will educate the whole child by 2023.

How: Trainings, app + online courses that provide proven techniques that decrease stress, strategies that build connection and activities that self-regulation and self-care practices.

Quotable: "We are seeing more students coming to school with anxiety, depression and this is in elementary school. We are seeing families who are struggling and I think society as a whole needs this kind of work."  - JoAnne Duncan, Principal

Wellness Warrior Spotlight
Name: Mallory Neuman
Occupation: High School Counselor

What skills have you focused on teaching this year?
Self-regulation and stress relief through guided relaxations and breathing exercises.

Working in a high school is busy and it seems there's a never ending to do list of standards to meet, tests and work/college to prep for and constant activities, assemblies and events. How is there time to teach these skills to ALL student at West Seattle High School?
As a high school counselor, you have to make time.  I’ll usually start a classroom lesson with a few minutes of deep breathing, before we get into the content.  We’ve also built lessons into our school-wide advisory curriculum, so even though I’m not personally delivering the lessons the students are learning about the benefits of mindfulness. Finally, I’ll work with departments who already understand the need for SEL and mindfulness (PE and World Language at the moment)...

This is the year of HAPPINESS in Dubai. Yes the year of Happiness! 

"We must achieve happiness for the community through government work. This is what the Executive Council's annual agenda will focus on, to ease people's lives and provide the best services, which will provide with them a dignified living and preserve Dubai's standing as a modern international city that promotes modernity while maintaining its cultural and social traditions," Sheikh Hamdan commented with regards to Dubai's overall success, which is a source of inspiration to other cities around the world.”

It was such a great experience observing an emphasis on happiness and well-being woven throughout communities and schools. We had a fabulous time teaching the five Happiness Habits, along with some stress-less techniques and connection activities.

"I've never met a kid who can't learn, poverty is not a learning disability."

Aren't skateboards off limits at schools? Not for this principal! Hamish Brewer is not your typical principal. He says that he spends the majority of his day out in the hallways, sends a loving message over the morning announcements every morning and has a school wide motto of 'Be Relentless'.

Wellness Warrior Spotlight
Name: Kris Connors
Occupation: K-5 School Counselor

How have you been teaching the happiness habits in your setting?
I have been teaching happiness habits to individual students and small groups in my office and extending this to classroom lessons so that teachers can continue this on in community circle time or when they see the class needs reminders about what is truly important.

What results have you noticed from teaching these skills?
Wow!  I have a success story about a 4th grade student who was in an EBD class last year (as a 3rd grader)! This student would have anxiety attacks at school, scream when upset, and not attend school due to having difficulties controlling her behavior or being overwhelmed.  She started this year at our school and I began implementing Generation Wellness strategies/lessons and happiness habits from the get go with her.  She was reluctant at first because she had a hard time trusting adults due to being new...

"When you give in service to other people, you end up being happier yourself." 

Daniel Siegel, MD, is Clinical Professor of psychiatry at UCLA, Co-Director of Mindful Awareness Research Center, Executive Director of Mindsight Institute, author, and recipient of numerous awards and honorary fellowships. This talk examines how relationships and reflection support the development of resilience in children and how to incorporate some of his ideas and models into your practice. 

Wellness Warrior Spotlight
Name: Ashley Zahn
Occupation: 3rd Grade Teacher
Interviewed By: Keilani Dehaan, School Counselor

Do you notice that many students are walking into the classroom feeling anxious, super energetic and sometimes distracted? Watch this video to hear how Ashley Zahn has incorporated daily guided relaxations into each school day. It's no surprise that she has noticed a dramatic increase in focus and a sense of calmness in her classroom. Also, you won't want to miss hearing how Keilani Dehaan uses guided relaxations as an intervention. It's a great episode filled with immediate takeaways!

Quotable: "After mindfulness, it's quiet! I noticed that students are much more focused on their work and they're so much calmer. There's a definite change of energy in the classroom." 

Ashley Zahn you are a true Wellness Warrior, helping students develop the tools to thrive in school and in life!

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[Source: Education Week]

Programs that teach students how to recognize their emotions, solve problems, and form healthy relationships may continue to show positive benefits for students months, or even years, after they complete them, a new meta-analysis finds. 

Students who completed social-emotional learning interventions fared better than their peers who didn't participate on a variety of indicators—including academic performance, social skills, and avoiding negative behaviors like drug use, finds the analysis, which examined follow-up data from dozens of published studies on specific interventions.

The meta-analysis builds on previous research that found social-emotional learning participants outperformed their peers academically. That research is frequently cited by policymakers and educational leaders who are seeking to promote social-emotional learning programs, through which schools teach students about emotions, relationships, and...