Wolfe Street Academy has started teaching mindfulness to students. Students practice strategies to help them to be more aware of their feelings and actions, further learning how to make positive changes when they are having a bad day. The PSC Community School Coordinator at Wolfe, Leah Beachley, has helped lead this work training staff and running the school’s mindfulness room. Implementing mindfulness strategies has helped reduce office referrals at the school by almost 80%. In reflecting on these changes, Leah shared that Wolfe’s recommendation for any school interested in implementing mindfulness would be to begin by focusing on the adults in the building. Unless teachers are aware of their own emotions and take care of themselves, it is impossible for them to respond appropriately to students, let alone teach students mindfulness and other helpful techniques.
