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The Miami Herald, 2017-01-26 Cropped page Page: 5NE

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Page: NE_News_4, Pub. date: Thursday, January 26 Last user: jdubin@miamiherald.comEdition: 1st Section, zone: , NE Last change at: 16:40:50 January 24

THURSDAY JANUARY 26 2017 NEIGHBORS 5NEMIAMIHERALD.COM

Miami-Dade CountyPublic Schools Superin-tendent Alberto Carvalhowill be honored Thursdayby Mindful Kids Miamiduring the group’s firstAmbassador of Mindful-ness luncheon.

Mindful Kids Miami is anonprofit organizationdedicated to improving thelives of children by givingthem access to mindful-ness skills. The organiza-tion is honoring Carvalhofor his support of providingmindfulness training tomore than 200 educatorsfrom 100 schools duringthe 2015-16 school year.

“Mindfulness is a re-search-based approach,that allows students to bereflective, meditate, findthemselves and theirthoughts, and then allowsthat moment to be sharedwith others,” said Carval-ho, who will receive hisaward at the Rusty Pelicanrestaurant in Key Biscayne.

Mindfulness is the delib-erate cultivation of mo-ment-to-moment attentionand awareness, also knownas “being in the presentmoment.” Educators whovoluntarily complete theMindfulness-Based StressReduction program, aneight-week course provid-ed by Mindful Kids Miami,can incorporate mindful-

ness exercises into theclass curriculum as theysee fit.

Through teacher-ledmediation and engagingbreathing exercises, stu-dents learn to regulatetheir emotions, with thepurpose of reducing im-pulsive behavior, stress,hostility and attention-deficit issues. The mindful-ness exercises also featurea component of kindnessand empathy for the stu-dents to internalize andpractice.

Dr. Rosa Inguanzo, anadvanced-placement Span-ish literature teacher atMiami Senior High School,practices mindful exerciseswith her students often.

“I try to incorporate theexercises seamlessly intomy lectures,” Inguanzosaid. “Sometimes at thestart of class, or before atest, or towards the end ofclass, as long as we com-plete them without takingaway from lecture time.”

Children who are ex-posed consistently to themindfulness practice re-spond well to the programand tend to request it whennot exercised as often.

“I’ve been doing it fortwo years now,” said ArielTrueva, an 11th grader whois one of Iguanzo’s stu-dents. “Mindfulness hassupported me mentally andhelps me alleviate thestress that I have from bothacademic and extracurric-

ular activities.”Several other supporters

also will be recognized atthe luncheon, includingPrincipal Shelley Strolenyof G.W. Carver MiddleSchool and student coun-selor Maria Elena Diaz deVillega of Miami SeniorHigh. Stroleny, who serveson the board of directorsfor Mindful Kids Miami,describes mindfulness as askill that students can de-velop.

“Today, life is hectic,there is so much ‘noise,’that if you can learn tocalm yourself down andfocus, you can experiencelife fuller and be moreeffective, and this is askill,” Stroleny said. “It is askill that students canlearn, and it makes thembetter because you stopyourself from getting fraz-zled.”

Diaz de Villega, who isset to retire at the end ofthis school year, wants tospend her retirement as apart of the Mindful KidsMiami program. “I want tokeep on doing mindfulness

and train the teachers,”she said.

Miami-Dade PublicSchools is the third-largestschool system in the coun-try. Carvalho believes it isessential to expand the

mindfulness program inschools throughout Miami.

The mindfulness pro-gram is a viable and low-cost solution to reducestress and anxiety for botheducators and students

alike. Also, parents havebeen open and supportiveof the program becausethey have seen the results,he said.

MIAMI-DADE SCHOOLS

Schools chiefto be honoredas ‘Ambassadorof Mindfulness’

FELIPE RIVAS frivas@miamiherald.com

Counselor Maria Elena Diaz de Villega in her office at Miami Senior High School. She will be honored on Thursday duringthe group Mindful Kids Miami’s first ‘Ambassador of Mindfulness’ luncheon.

FELIPE RIVAS frivas@miamiherald.com

11th grade students Ariel Trueva and Keeilyn Vicente stretch and control their breathing aspart of a mindfulness exercise directed by Dr. Rosa Inguanzo at Miami Senior High School.

BY FELIPE RIVASfrivas@miamiherald.com