by Matt Robinson, AFT MA Advocate,

With high-stakes testing, financial issues, and other personal and academic problems weighing down on them, students and teachers alike can use all the support they can get. Fortunately, more and more students and teachers are finding ways to support each other while also supporting themselves. BHI is at the head of such programming with its stress-reduction programs for schools.

In addition to its six-week Resilient Kids program for students ages 12-18, the Institute also works with schools and teachers to bring meditation, breathing and other relaxing, focusing techniques to the people who may need them the most but know about them the least.

“With all the competing academic and personal events in their lives, when do any kids have a moment to stop and breathe and relax?,” asks Christy Egun, Director of Boston Partnerships for the MGH Center for Community Health Improvement. “That’s what the…Institute does for our students. The relaxation tools allow them to take time out wherever they are. This is a gift that can last a lifetime!”
One of the lead partners in and largest supporters of the BPS-MGH partnership is East Boston High School teacher Jayne Lacey. Among her many anecdotes about positive experiences with the Institute and what she and her students have gained from their collaboration is one of a day when students were waiting to take an online test whole the computers on which they were to take it rebooted.
“My students began chatting with one another while we waited for the system to come back up.,” Lacey recalls. When one student asked if they could turn off the lights and “have quiet time,” Lacey happily agreed.
“The class immediately quieted down,” she recalls, noting that other students then volunteered to lead the class in meditation.
“They proceeded to take turns leading a breathing focus exercise,” she explains, recalling one of the many skills they hard learned from the Center’s programming. “The ‘quiet time’ lasted for no more than 5 or 6 minutes, but as usual, when finished there was a sense of calm and focus in the room.”
In addition to meditation, Lacey recalls learning and developing interest in such relaxation-supporting processes as guided imagery, and mindfulness exercises from her colleagues at the Center. While she admits to having once used them only sporadically, Lacey says they are now a regular part of her class day.
“We now take 3-5 minutes for ‘quiet time’ to start the class,” she explains, adding that the class often listens to recorded meditation guides. “At the end of the meditation, a bell rings…[and] I begin talking about the day’s work…. By the time I get up from my desk and turn on the lights, we are focused on the lessons of the day.”
In addition (and thanks) to being more focused, Lacey finds her classes more productive and more effective as well. In addition to simply getting more done, the students also seem to care about and for each other in a more profound and productive way.
“There is a stronger sense of community,” Lacey observes, noting that the students often complain when “quiet time” is not available for whatever reason.
“ I recently surveyed my students about the use of this time,” Lacey recalls. “Over and over, the answers were that the best thing was getting to relax, and the worst thing that the time isn’t longer.”
“They ask us to schedule more sessions,” Egun adds, noting that many students say that the relaxation sessions are one of the best features of their work with MGH. “They quickly grasped the connection between stress and academic performance.”
While the focus of the school partnership is academic stress, Egun notes that most of the students go on to use their new skills in other stressful situations as well. “These techniques help them face every stressful event,” she suggests, “even preparing for holidays and the stress often associated with family gatherings.”
In addition to helping her students, Lacey also says that the Institute program has helped her as a teacher as well.
“This practice has become part of a learning environment strengthened through the use of relaxation,” she says. “As we go forward, I plan to pay careful attention to the ways quiet time enhances my students’ ability to learn. I also plan to continue to listen to feedback from the students about ways it helps them, both in and out of the classroom.”