In partnership with Churchill County School District, the Churchill Community Coalition has been teaching mindfulness techniques in district schools since 2016. The program is called "Mindful Youth" and is the passion project of the Coalition's previous Director, Mary Beth Chamberlain. “Our mindfulness practices can be boiled down to four basic practices: breathing, seeing, hearing, and feeling,” said Churchill Community Coalitions Project Coordinator and Mindful Youth program trainer Kadie Zeller.
Students in PreK-12 receive this program. Based on teacher observations and student surveys, there has been an increase in the regulation of emotions and the ability to focus during school and home time since this program started in 2016. More importantly, students are proving to be more capable of acknowledging their feelings and observing the social situations in which they find themselves. “Students become excited when we enter the classroom, and they see the singing bowls because they know they get to practice mindful hearing and get to ‘feel relaxed in my bones’ as one 4th grader put it,” Zeller said.
Since the program has been in CCSD schools for six years, many students are now familiar with mindfulness and use it to help them deal with stress, positive decision-making, studying, and even controlling emotional outbursts. “We have had students share that they have gone home to teach it to their parents and siblings,” said Zeller. In special education classrooms, the Coalition staff observes as they see these students who need extra support fully immerse themselves in practices involving the singing bowls. “Words cannot describe some of the impacts our staff has witnessed in the classroom. We cannot thank school admin, educators, and partner organizations for letting us come in year after year to share this program with the youth in our community,” Zeller said.
“The Mindful Youth program has become vital in our schools. Inviting the Coalition into our schools to teach mindfulness is another way we support our students socially and emotionally. The resources and techniques they gain through our partnership with Churchill Community Coalition have impacted our students tremendously. Many of them take what they learn home. Having the language and the skills to provide this level of support in the classroom is a game changer for not only our students but our staff as well,” said Superintendent Dr. Summer Stephens. "We look forward to the next phases of this work which will bring in more staff support and training."
The Coalition goes into classrooms weekly to teach mindfulness to students. Many teachers have used what they have learned from the program to facilitate further discussions with their students about ways to be mindful. "This week, students in my class brainstormed ways to show patience and what to do when we feel like we are losing our patience. We worked on mindful breathing, which ties in well with our weekly Mindful Youth classes," said third-grade teacher Shannon Windriver.
Research has shown that mindfulness can increase connections in the brain, allowing students to step back and observe instead of reacting without much thought. It provides students and educators with essential tools to calm and re-direct their attention, regulates their emotions, and reduce their stress, which is critical, especially since the pandemic has severely impacted children's learning and social development. It is becoming a common practice that educators and students share with others. “That is our goal, to give the kids in our community the tools they need to deal with stress and create healthy lifestyles in a way that is easy and accessible to everyone, anywhere, any time,” said Zeller.
For more information on mindfulness resources and research, visit churchillcoalition.com/mindfulness
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