Generation Wellness Blog

While all of us are familiar with the recommendations to stay physically healthy - wash your hands, cover your cough, practice social distancing, sanitize high-touch areas - Tumwater School District quickly realized that we also need to tend to the social/emotional health needs of our staff, students and their families. Being hurled into completely unknown territory - some dealing with the stresses of a lost job, sick loved ones, anxiety, and more - Tumwater School District quickly partnered with Lyndsay Morris, Founder of Generation Wellness and BHHS alumni, to address these important aspects.

TSD has committed to staff, student and community wellness by utilizing a phase-in system to provide ongoing resources, utilizing grant funds, as they endure the challenges of the pandemic:

Phase 1: Staff Wellness 

Learn more about the Workplace Wellness Academy here.

Phase 2: Family Wellness

Learn more about the Family Wellness Toolkit here.

Phase 3: School...

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  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

Play means to engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.

How does play relate to wellness, you might ask? Well, play is vital to human development, lowering stress levels, and increasing creativity. 

• Researcher Stuart Brown, MD believes that play is at the core of creativity and innovation. When we’re in a relaxed and playful mood, It’s easier to learn a new task, complete a task, or solve a problem. He points out that play can mean snorkeling, scrap booking or solving crossword puzzles; it’s anything that makes us lose track of time and self-consciousness, creating the clearing where ideas are born. 

Also, when we play, we are more likely to engage in laughter because we’re having fun. Laughter enlivens us. Both literally and figuratively. 

• Research has shown laughter reduces levels of stress hormones, increases infection-fighting antibodies, and also improves blood flow to the heart, all...

QUOTABLE: "I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress, and places to go." 

Listen to this inspiring talk from Rita Pierson, an educator who truly understands how relationship building is so important. She talks about giving students purpose, supporting them, looking for the positives, and even more. This TED Talk has gone viral, for a very well understood reason. Every kid needs a champion, and you can be that champion!

Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion#t-433250

We would like to thank the 2,500 educators and all of the schools and organizations we had the opportunity of working with in August 2021. We know that this school year is different and we hope that you left our trainings feeling inspired and equipped with simple tools for a resilient school year. Thank you for everything you do!

Educators are the super heroes of our country and we know that you will always find a way to rise no matter the circumstances. This video provides a snippet of the back to school professional development virtual events. Keep shining!

This school year was different than most. Never have we ended in-person learning in March due to a pandemic. More than likely, you’ve experienced a combination of frustration, joy, sadness, early mornings, late nights, confusion, resiliency, uncertainty, 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. Take some time to capture the lessons, so that you can create an even better school year to come.

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

• What created the most joy this school year?
• What was my greatest challenge?
• 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...