Students and teachers are the ongoing beneficiaries of a growing mindfulness practice at Essex Elementary School (EES) this year. Over the summer and past few years, several EES teachers, para-educators, and staff have been offered the opportunity to participate in a professional development program focused on providing students self-calming strategies and empowering techniques of self-regulation.

The program is financially supported by the Essex Elementary School Foundation (EESF), and is facilitated by Terry Tovey, an occupational therapist at the school. Tovey relies on her training from both Radiant Child and Educate 2B to teach the staff techniques to better serve the various needs of the students at EES.

The practice of mindfulness at EES isn’t new. Tovey has been supporting students in the classroom for several years with her age-appropriate, weekly classes. What is new, is that through the generosity of EESF, more staff has been trained to use the techniques on a more regular basis throughout each school day.

“We now have para-educators and teachers who have learned to provide exactly what Terry does, which gives more students more frequent opportunities to build valuable skills,” said EES Principal Jennifer Tousignant. “Competencies learned such as mind-body awareness, self-regulation, and physical fitness lead to improvements in students’ behavior, health, and performance.

“Mindfulness was the school wide theme for the 2017-2018 school year and this is a good way of continuing on what everyone learned last year,” Tousignant continued. “This year’s theme, ‘Zones of Regulation,’ will bring it to the next level. At EES we are dedicated to nurturing the whole child in order to maximize their academic, social, and emotional competence so all find and enjoy success. Funding from the EESF for experiences such as these help to make our school the very special place that it is.”

The developmentally appropriate classes can be held in traditional classroom environments or in a more open spaces; they can be full classes or just a two- to three-minute check-in prior to taking a test, or calming after participating in a school recess. The students physically learn body awareness, motor planning, coordination, grading of movements, balance, core muscle strength, and right/left brain balancing.

“We focus on our breathing, then a more active movement, followed by a relaxation period and stillness,” Tovey said. Relaxation exercises are also used to aid in reducing anxiety and stress in the students and the teachers, too.

“My goal is to provide your children with tools for life that they can take with them and use both in school and out,” Tovey said.

EESF’s primary goal has been to create a significant endowment that can support the school’s strategic vision to engage all students in a rigorous and collaborative educational program. Each year, at least five percent of the EESF endowment is allocated for supplemental enrichment programs and projects proposed by EES administration that would otherwise not be available through traditional funding by the school system and budget. For more information or to make a tax-deductible donation, visit www.essexesf.org or mail a donation to Essex Elementary School Foundation, P.O. Box 882, Essex, CT 06426.