Wayne-Westland Schools Introduces Mindfulness Resource

As the Wayne-Westland School District prepared to welcome students and staff back into the classrooms for in-person hybrid learning on March 1, it became clear that not everyone was comfortable with moving from the virtual-only classroom format. But the district had a plan to address anxiety. Last year, Superintendent John Dignan had already prompted some of the district's department heads to form a Mental Health Taskforce to assess the mental health needs in students and staff as they pertained to the pandemic and the uncertainty it brought to daily life.

Made up of school principals, social workers, school psychologists, and other support staff in the district, the Mental Health Task Force began identifying mental health issues among staff and students and developing ideas for addressing those issues. "We have just been working to make sure that we are supporting the mental health needs of our students, our families, and our staff," says Amanda Dybus, Wayne-Westland's Supervisor of Family and Community Engagement. One of the tools the seven-member taskforce came up with is a virtual Mindful Moment Room, which was created based on virtual "classrooms" teachers had been using while teaching students in the virtual-only classroom format.

"The Mindfulness Room was just one way for us to give a tool to our families and our students to be able to use those different links that are provided to be able to click on different activities and resources that would provide them with mindfulness activities, relaxation techniques, things to help alleviate anxiety as we were returning to a hybrid mode of learning," says Dybus.

Resembling a room with a variety of inconspicuous items strewn about, including a stack of yoga mats, a fish aquarium, and framed images and mantras hanging on the wall and standing on a bookcase, the Mindfulness Room allows viewers to click on any item and access a calming video, a brief yoga lesson, or relaxing music accompanied by video, to name a few. In addition, links to community resources are included as well. The Mindfulness Room is accessible via the district's website using any digital device. It has been well-received by both staff and students. "We originally started this process for our staff," says Dybus. "It was determined that we could open this up to our entire community to use."

Taskforce member and psychologist Gerry Zydek says the tool's portability adds convenience and the benefits are comparable to performing the same activity in real time, such as stroking a dog. "With respect to the virtual environment, you can take that anywhere with you," he says. "You could be in a waiting room or somewhere where you wouldn't have access to an actual dog, but if you're watching a video of puppies you get the same physical response from doing that so it can help reduce stress and anxiety."

School Social Worker and fellow taskforce member Amy Van Schoick agrees. "We need to adapt as times change," she says. "Kids are very connected to technology...it may not work for everyone but if this works for a couple of kids who feel more comfortable using technology by getting on their phone or computer and accessing some different things, I think the important thing is being able to give different types of tools to different students because the same thing doesn't work for everyone... I think virtual can work for some people in the same way that it would work in person for others."

Dybus says she is proud of the work the Mental Health Taskforce has accomplished thus far. "The Mindfulness Room is just one small part of the work that this taskforce has been doing," she says, adding that the taskforce will now be permanent fixture within the district. Looking forward, the Mental Health Taskforce is preparing informational handouts for staff to help identify anxiety and depression and how to help students overcome it. Van Schoick adds that all staff are being trained in suicide prevention and the district is working with community partners to have therapists in the school buildings for the benefit of students and their families.

"I think as we move beyond the pandemic, it's still going to be important that we focus on mental health in the future," says Zydek. "I think we need to keep mental health at the forefront of education because that impacts a student's ability to function in school and to get a good, solid education."

To view the Mindful Moment Room, go to http://www.wwcsd.net and scroll down the main page to District News.