EDUC551 LT1 Mairi Graham 218374 January 13, 2020

Dear Principal,

It has been my great pleasure to spent time in your wonderful school getting to know the

staff and students. I am impressed with the many health initiatives you have created to address

student health. As a school, you have chosen to focus on student resiliency this year, and I am

particularly fond of the initiate to ensure every student can identify an adult within the school

that they would feel comfortable reaching out to in a time of need. Although I was only in your

school for six weeks, a student identified me as a trusted adult they would approach. This is a

responsibility and an honour that I take very seriously. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines

resiliency as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to adversity or change” (Merriam-

Webster, 2020). I believe a person’s ability to adjust to and overcome adversity is largely

dependent on their ability to cope with stress.

As part of the resiliency initiative, I witnessed my partner teacher (on numerous

occasions) ask students to rate their stress levels on a scale of one to five and I was quite

concerned to see most students rating their stress at three or higher, with numerous students

indicating their stress level as five. I believe this experience was particularly meaningful to me

because at the time of my practicum, I too was struggling to manage my stress levels. Through

both personal experiences and academic research, I have discovered that stress can have very

negative effects. Personally, I find stress to affect everything from my eating and sleeping habits

to my ability to concentrate, and research suggests that “pressures and expectations within the

school environment are the most frequent stressors reported by adolescents” (de Anda et al,

2000). Although we may not be able to remove school-related stress from students’ lives

completely, I am certain that we can help students develop effective coping strategies to manage

and lower their stress levels.

EDUC551 LT1 Mairi Graham 218374 January 13, 2020

I would like to propose that your school implement a mindfulness-based program with

staff and students. One British study found that students who participated in a mindfulness

intervention reported fewer depressive symptoms, lower stress, and greater well-being. (Kuyken,

et al., 2013) I think these outcomes are well aligned with the goals of your schools

Comprehensive School Health (CSH) approach. (Calgary Board of Education, 2019). In

particular, I believe a mindfulness program would address the following areas related to the four

components of your schools CSH approach:

(bullet points are excerpted from the Pan-Canadian Joint Consortium for School Health, 2020)

Social and Physical Environment:

• the emotional well-being of students
• supportive of the school community in making healthy choices by building competence,
autonomy, and connectedness
• safe, accessible, and supportive of healthy choices for all members of the school community
Teaching and Learning:
• formal and informal provincial/territorial curriculum, resources, and associated activities
• knowledge, understanding, and skills for students to improve their health and well-being and
enhance their learning outcomes
• professional development opportunities for staff related to health and well-being
Healthy School Policy:
• policies, guidelines, and practices that promote and support student well-being and
achievement and shape a respectful, welcoming, and caring school environment for all members
of the school community
Partnerships and Services:
• health, education, and other sectors working together to advance school health
• community and school-based services that support and promote student
and staff health and well-being.
What I am specifically proposing is that one or more staff members receive mindfulness

training which they will then teach to staff and students within the school on an ongoing basis.
EDUC551 LT1 Mairi Graham 218374 January 13, 2020

“Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you're

sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness

involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and

help reduce stress.” (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2020). The beauty

of a mindfulness practise is that it can be done in the classroom, with students seated at their

desks, and requires no equipment or expense other than a trained individual to lead the students.

It is a simple, easy to learn and implement practise, and requires no more than 10 minutes at a

time.

Similar mindfulness school programs have shown excellent results. One study with

children aged 12-16 found evidence of increased wellbeing, lower stress, and lower depression

scores in the students who participated in the program (Kuyken et al., 2013). It is my concern

regarding the self-reported stress levels of students at your school that leads me to believe that

the stress reduction benefits of mindfulness would be of great value to both staff and students.

This initiative could be implemented immediately at very low cost to the school. Stress reduction

of staff and students would result in happier and healthier individuals, which would have positive

impacts in the classroom, in the school overall, and could even have benefits within personal

lives and families.

Sincerely,

Mairi Graham
EDUC551 LT1 Mairi Graham 218374 January 13, 2020

References

Calgary Board of Education. (2019). Health and wellness in school. Retrieved from
https://www.cbe.ab.ca/about-us/school-culture-and-environment/health-and-wellness-in-
school/Pages/default.aspx

Merrium-Webster Inc. (2020). Resiliency. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/resiliency

De Anda, D., Baroni, S., Boskin, L., Buchwald, L., Morgan, J., Ow, J., Gold, J.S., & Weiss, R.
(2000). Stress, stressors, and coping among high school students. Children and Youth
Services Review. 22(6), 441-463.

Pan Canadian Joint Consortium for School Health. (2020). What is comprehensive school
health? Retrieved from http://www.jcsh-
cces.ca/images/What_is_Comprehensive_School_Health_October_14_2015_-_2-pager.pdf

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2020). Mindfulness exercises. Retrieved
from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-
exercises/art-20046356