“After a certain amount of time, some teachers say they don’t have to run their class because the kids are doing it. “The few minutes a day it takes to implement the program saves twice that much in classroom management,” she said, adding that ultimately, in schools where MindUp has been in place for some time, academics went up and bullying all but disappeared. In fact, Hegberg said MindUp actually makes teachers’ jobs easier. Implementation is next, which Hegberg said is generally seamless because much of the MindUp curriculum weaves into existing curriculum. Part of that building process is the training, which the school has finished. “It has a solid foundation from which to build upon.” “The reason I like this one is it’s based in science,” she said. This makes it different from other social and emotional learning models, Hegberg said. The organization’s website states that it “supports research studies conducted by university-associated social scientists and neuroscientists and develops evidence-based educational programs for children, such as MindUp, using cutting-edge scientific research on the brain and social emotional learning.” And there is evidence to prove it.”Īccording to the Hawn Foundation, MindUp is based on science. “The bottom line is it changes people on all levels. They want to learn about how their brains work, they want to participate, and they can feel a difference,” she said. The website says the program has five goals: develop students’ skills in focusing their attention sharpen students’ awareness of their environment and themselves by paying attention to what they sense and feel strengthen the positive human qualities students possess, including their capacity to understand the perspectives of others and to be empathic, helpful and kind increase students’ optimism and well-being and foster a cohesive, caring learning environment and thereby an optimistic classroom.īut, Hegberg said, the end results are much greater. It is organized into four units: Let’s Get Focused, Paying Attention to Our Senses, It’s All About Attitude, and Taking Mindful Action. She is intimately involved in MindUp, and it shows.”Īccording to the Hawn Foundation website, the MindUp program – which is in place in schools across the United States, in Canada and abroad – consists of 15 lessons for three developmental levels (pre-kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth grade and sixth through eighth grade). “Goldie came, and she talked about the program so passionately and eloquently, it would be impossible not to be excited. “The teachers were tickled,” said Hegberg, who assisted two certified MindUp trainers with the Jan. So last week, teachers were trained in the MindUp program and were even paid a visit by Hawn herself. She talked with her staff, there was a presentation, and the teachers voted. “Suzanne knew she couldn’t just push this through. “How did we do it? We have a stellar principal who understands her staff and the process,” Hegberg said. Actress and part-time Roaring Fork Valley resident Goldie Hawn is behind the foundation, and it was a talk by her at the Aspen Brain Forum in September that brought the program here. The program, for pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students, was created by the Hawn Foundation. “But with just 20 seconds of this, it is amazing the difference you see in the kids.”īrain breaks – as well as several other unique teaching techniques – are part of a new “social and emotional” learning program being implemented at the elementary school this year. “Brain breaks are short periods of focused breathing,” said Kathy Hegberg, a Basalt-based child therapist who has worked as a counselor at the elementary school on a contract basis. Basalt Elementary is the first school in the Roaring Fork Valley to implement the program.īASALT – Soon, students at Basalt Elementary School will take more than potty breaks and snack breaks. 2 when staffers were being trained in her foundation's MindUp program. Special to The Aspen TimesActress Goldie Hawn poses with Basalt Elementary School Principal Suzanne Wheeler-Del Piccolo last week.
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