Ok, so I’m missing some school, but my grades are still up, and I’m doing what I think and hope is important work. I’m speaking to different groups of people (teens, guidance counselors, teachers, etc.) about mindfulness and social emotional learning. Ordinarily I would make each event it’s own blog post, but in this case, since I’ve done 5 events in the last 12 days, I’m combining them into one post. I’m so grateful for everyone who came out to listen about mental health education, and to those that are supporting me in trying to get these mindful programs into all schools K-12.
I’ve spent the past several weeks interviewing new experts for the Mindful Kids Peace Summit, so we will be up to 50 hours of content now and 80 experts on different topics. To comply with the new mental health education law, we are adding topics like substance abuse, trafficking, and suicide prevention. I’ve also made a point to add other youth (teens) advocates like myself because I think kids like to learn from other kids.
We’ve decided to change the format of MKPS from 5 days to more like a digital library so teachers, parents, and kids can log on anytime they want and watch any segment they want. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to make that happen, but we are working on it, so I’m guessing a few months.
I’m also starting the MKPS book (for those that don’t prefer digital) and I’m excited about that because each chapter will have it’s own glossary, activities, review, and of course, the translated videos. Along with that will be the self-reflection journal for teens which will have open-ended prompts. Gina Biegel of Stressed Teens is helping me with the books, so I’m grateful for that.
While I’m working on all of this, I don’t want to forget about the little kids, so I am always on the look-out for good ideas for Wuf Shanti because the kids love our mindful mascot.
That’s what’s going on with me, speaking, writing, teaching. And you know, still being a teen too. I love being a mental health youth advocate, but I also need time to be a regular teen, and hang out with my friends. 🙂
