By Meghan Wenzel, CEI Researcher and Writer and Christine Mason, CEI Executive Director Levels of stress, trauma, and mental illness are increasing, particularly within our nation’s students. Children experiencing severe trauma and toxic stress simply can’t learn effectively. Their bodies and brains are on the defensive, experiencing physiological changes that interfere with attention, memory, and learning. One in five youth have a mental health condition, but sadly under hal

By Christine Mason, CEI Executive Director Paradox rules at the moment. Even as we are socially isolating indoors, skies are clearing as we have halted toxic pollution. Although we have become more and more concerned about our children’s time on their digital devices, classrooms have gone virtual. And parents who have been stressed out over how to work and spend time with their children, are home now with their families 24/7. Even as we are faced with the urgency of using mas

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support and Christine Mason, CEI Executive Director Teachers and schools around the country have quickly mobilized to figure out how to serve their students from afar. Schools and communities have banded together to make sure that all of their students have the tools and resources needed to learn together online while staying safe in their homes. The swift and unexpected switch from classroom to home-based learning has illum

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support This is Part I of a two-part series. Part II is available here. Stress can be toxic to the body and mind. When parents or teachers are stressed, they’re less likely to be well attuned to the youth in their care. Research shows that mindfulness can reduce stress, increase happiness, and help people better understand each other’s needs, leading to a family or school that feels more connected through a bond of love. By

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support “Bishop Brady High School: A Caring Community” is on the sign outside this Concord, New Hampshire high school. Andrea Elliot, the principal of this small Catholic school that serves about 300 students, thinks her school’s foundational belief in the importance of loving one another—brother and stranger—is why hers is a compassionate school community. Building on a Foundation of Faith Andrea credits the deep sense of c

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support This is Part II of a two-part series. Part I is available in the March/April 2020 edition of Compassion Action, the eNewsletter from the Center for Educational Improvement. The small choices we make and actions we take add up to make us who we are. What we spend our time thinking about and doing influence what we make of our lives. Depression occurs when we spend too much time ruminating on the past or at least our p