D46, Library Team Up To Promote Emotional Health

Grayslake IL

02 October, 2020

2:15 PM

Description

Press release from Grayslake Area Public Library: Oct. 2, 2020 The Grayslake Area Public Library is partnering with Community Consolidated School District #46 to help reduce anxiety and stress among students, their families, and the community at large during the month of October with mindfulness and meditation. Planning between the library and school personnel began back in July after library staff had chosen the theme of mindfulness and meditation for its One Book One Community program. Two books were identified, 10% Happier by Dan Harris, for teens and adults and Mindful Me: Mindfulness and Meditation for Kids by Whitney Stewart, for children. Both books offer a positive introduction to mindfulness and meditation by offering relatable tools everyone can utilize to reduce stress and handle difficult emotions by adding relaxation, breath, and gratitude to achieve better mental wellness. "We value our ongoing partnership with District 46 and are pleased to come together and provide students, families, and the whole community with manageable ways to bring mindfulness into their lives as self-care is especially important during this time, " commented Sara Brown, Grayslake Public Library Director. CCSD#46 will be incorporating many of the mindfulness themes into their Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum. The month of October has been designated Mindful Month and activities planned will include, creating gratitude journals, practicing deep breathing exercises, learning deep muscle relaxation, and yoga. Topics from Mindful Me will be used to create videos and uplifting social media posts to be shared on both the school district and library social media pages. "Our partnership with the Grayslake Area Public Library has been a valued and collaborative one to enhance the experiences for our district students. We are grateful for the continued support and work to integrate opportunities to increase our students' access to literacy with a strong focus on the growth and wellbeing of the whole child. We are very pleased to continue this work by connecting Mindfulness to our curriculum work in the classroom and social-emotional learning activities.", Heather Lorenzo, Director of Pupil Services CCSD #46. The library will also host a variety of online mindfulness programs and activities for people of all ages in October. These will include an adult book discussion of 10% Happier, a children's art class titled Creating a Gratitude Mandala, Crafts To-Go, and Tom Kens' will present his popular Staying Positive in 2020 program. Both books 10% Happier and Mindful Me: Mindfulness and Meditation for Kids are available through the Grayslake Library in print and digital formats. A complete list of Grayslake Library's, One Book, One Community programs, and activities can be found at, https://www.grayslake.info/. For additional information about the Grayslake Area Public Library find us at, www.grayslake.info, Facebook @GrayslakeLibrary, Twitter @GraysLibrary, and Instagram @grayslakelibrary. This press release was produced by Grayslake Area Public Library. The views expressed here are the author's own.