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AUGUST 2021
Welcome to the Peace of Mind August Newsletter!  We're glad you're here.   Read on for Upcoming Events, Monthly Mindfulness Practice, Community Spotlights, New Resources, and Gratitude.  Thanks for sharing your time with us. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Fall Virtual Community Circles begin soon!

Peace of Mind's Virtual Community Circles are open to educators and school mental health professionals using, or planning to use, the Peace of Mind Curriculum. 

Our Virtual Community Circles have three goals: (1) community building among Peace of Mind educators (2) deepening personal mindfulness practice for self-care and (3) learning & growth to support teaching Peace of Mind. Read more here.  Again this year the Circles will be facilitated by the skilled and wonderful Jelena Popovic and Dave Trachtenberg.  Participants who attend all 4 Circles in the Fall and/or Spring session will receive a Certificate of Completion.

Fall Session: September  21, Oct 19, Nov 16 and Dec 14
Spring Session: Feb 15, Mar 15, Apr 19, May 17
Time: 4:30 pm to 5:45 pm EST
Cost: $40 per session (4 Circles). Scholarships available.  
Size: Max 12 per Circle + 2 facilitators
Location: Zoom
Registration: Click button below
QuestionsContact Cheryl 

 "I feel more confident and competent, and more able to meet the needs of my kids."
"I really look forward to this time of growth and working together. A great experience!"

“After a full day of virtual school, it was hard to show up for one more zoom meeting, but it was so worth it and I felt so much better in my heart, mind and soul.”

Register for Virtual Community Circles

All welcome: Fall Community of Practice Gathering

Wednesday, October 20th from 4 to 5:15 pm EST on Zoom. 

Join us for a roundtable conversation and breakouts with other Peace of Mind educators.  We'll focus on the trauma-sensitive practices in Peace of Mind, share ways to engage students in mindfulness, and curriculum authors will be on hand to answer your questions.  All welcome, no charge.

Free, but please RSVP to get the zoom link!
 
RSVP for Fall Community of Practice

MONTHLY MINDFULNESS PRACTICE

Heartfulness Practice!

Heartfulness

Peace of Mind lessons teach "Heartfulness", a mindfulness practice that helps kids practice compassion for themselves and others. In challenging times, it helps!
More Mindfulness Practices

POM COMMUNITY NEWS

School Spotlight

While Peace of Mind is based in Washington D.C. and most directly serves students in the DC metro area,  we're thrilled that schools outside of the area continue to find us! We welcome all educators' participation in our virtual programs and do our best to work with all schools who reach out to us to adapt Peace of Mind to meet their unique needs.

We're so glad to have The Morrison School, a K-8 public school in Philadelphia PA, join our Peace of Mind community.  It's been a pleasure working with Principal Meredith Lowe and her team! Here's a note from Morrison's Peace of Mind Coordinator, Madeleine Sagebiel, about how they got started. 


"The Morrison School is a K-8 public school located in North Philadelphia. At Morrison, we found that our students were really struggling with their social emotional abilities. We wanted to be able to give them the tools to thrive as emotionally intelligent people and take that knowledge to help better themselves and to help those around them. In the Fall of 2020, we reached out to Peace of Mind and were able to use a Title I grant from the Fund for the Future of our Children to fund the purchase of the resources we needed.

We began utilizing the Peace of Mind curriculum virtually for our K-3 grade classes. After a short time, we saw an immense change in our students' attitudes and kindness towards themselves and others. We are so excited to be continuing our journey with Peace of Mind in the Fall of 2021 and to have this Curriculum spread throughout the whole school!"  

Experiential Learning with Peace of Mind Storybooks.

We love hearing about the many ways Peace of Mind Curricula and Storybooks are adapted to meet the needs of kids and classrooms.  A summer camp in Bethesda MD adapted our storybook, Tyaja Uses the Think Test by Linda Ryden, into a play.  Laura Piervincenzi,  Program Coordinator, shared this story with us: 

"Our summer programming for children this year at River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (RRUUC) consists of two week-long summer theatre workshops. The first one recently wrapped up with a delightful adaptation of Linda Ryden’s book about thinking before speaking, Tyaja Uses the Think Test. When I conceived of offering theatre workshops, my first consideration was finding source material that would be fun and age appropriate.    
 It did not take long for me to turn to Linda’s books.   On the first day of the workshop I read four of the books and allowed the kids to choose their favorite. While they enjoyed them all, a consensus was reached that Tyaja was the best to adapt for our group. The dialogue could be simplified enough for the five-year-olds among us, there weren’t too many parts and one scene takes place on a playground. We happened to be meeting outside right beside a playground! The kids found that coincidence too irresistible.

Over the course of the week we created the script, assembled very simple costume pieces and props, and rehearsed.  The kids did an amazing job and were so pleased to perform for their parents and other invited guests.

In addition to learning about putting together a piece of theatre, the kids had many good conversations during the week about the main message in Tyaja Uses the Think Test. Hopefully they won’t blurt out something hurtful the next time they don’t like a friend’s new haircut! "

How are you using Peace of Mind? We'd love to know.

NEW RESOURCES

Second Edition of Peace of Mind Core Curriculum for Grades 1-2 


Our revised second edition of the Peace of Mind Core Curriculum for Grades 1-2 will be available in late August.  We incorporated invaluable feedback from educators across the country and curriculum author Linda Ryden's own students over the last five years.  As a result, this new edition includes:

  • more trauma-informed practices throughout.
  • more hands-on activities, movement and pair-sharing.
  • new lessons built around Peace of Mind story books.
  • fewer required storybooks and materials.
You will also find more lessons on understanding and practicing gratitude, a powerful tool in managing fear and anxiety and building resilience.  If you have any questions, just let us know. 
Pre-order New Edition of the Core Curriculum for Grades 1-2

GRATITUDE

New funding for Peace of Mind's work
 

We are honored to be a new grantee of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. We are so grateful for The Cafritz Foundation’s financial support and also for their belief in our mission.  

The Cafritz Foundation is committed to building a strong community for residents of the Washington DC metro area, focusing their support in key areas including health and wellness and education.  We are thrilled to be able to join forces to meet the needs of students and educators throughout our region.  The Cafritz Foundation’s grant will enable us to continue to develop and share the mindfulness-based SEL, Conflict Resolution and Social Justice Resources that students and educators need, keeping them accessible to all.  Wonderful!

We are so very grateful to all of our donorsAs a small but efficient and growing 501(c)3 organization, we are committed to making sure every contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference.  Thank you all!

To find out more about supporting Peace of Mind, visit the Donate page on our website. Thank you!

How can I support Peace of Mind?
In peace,
Cheryl, Linda and The Peace of Mind team 

 
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