ICHS and Mindfulness in the Classroom In an effort to build social emotional skills and address the “whole” student, mindfulness is being embraced by educators everywhere. Immaculate Conception High School’s faculty and staff participated in an amazing professional development session to learn techniques and strategies to be able to bring mindfulness to our everyday classrooms. From early intervention throughout our lifespan, neuroscience research shows that mindful practice actually rewires the brain and fires up the areas responsible for learning and memory, rational thinking, and empathy. We all received an overview on mindfulness and learned how simple practices can easily be integrated into a classroom; and how these work to decrease student’s stress and anxiety, promote emotional regulation,
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strengthen interpersonal skills, improve attention and focus, and cognitive outcomes. We also learned how to develop or expand our own mindfulness practice. A big thank you to the Bergen County Special Services Staff members, Dr. Teri Kelly: PT, DPT, MS Ed and Ms. Kellie Berkoff: MSW, LSW for a wonderful day of learning.