Growing Healthy Minds: Ole Miss Conference Plants Seeds of Wellness

More than 160 teachers, nutritionists and administrators participated in the July 14-15 session to learn about elements of the Growing Healthy Minds, Bodies and Communities program.

Kenya Wolff, associate professor of early childhood education, and Alicia Stapp, associate professor of health and physical education, developed the curriculum at Ole Miss in 2019. Since then, 22 schools and early childhood centers have piloted the course of study across the state.

In years past, the program was shared in a retreat-style gathering.

"This year, we wanted to open it up to a broader audience, including educators, administrators and community members interested in early childhood health, wellness and family engagement," Wolff said. "Over the years, many people have expressed a desire to learn more about the curriculum components, which include nutrition, yoga, mindfulness, movement, family engagement and social-emotional learning."

The participants were engaged, had positive energy and were ready to learn, Stapp said.

"We hope they understand the importance of not just implementing and utilizing tools for wellness for the children in the classroom, but how important it is to take care of themselves first," Stapp said. "The big overarching takeaway is 'fill your cup first.'"

The conference provided an opportunity to bring together teachers using the program and newcomers to explore these topics, learn practical tools and become empowered to share wellness practices with children and families, Wolff said.

Keynote speaker Catherine Cook-Cottone, a psychologist and expert in social-emotional learning through yoga, has authored a new children's book, "The Worry Monster: Calming Anxiety with Mindfulness" (Random House Books for Young Readers). She shared the book's release at the conference.

Erin Ramsey, a leader in educator self-care, delivered a second keynote sharing her personal experience and strategies for early childhood professionals to take time for themselves. Move to Learn Mississippi's Coach Calhoun shared brain breaks and dance moves for teachers to help students get rid of the wiggles and focus.

Breakout session topics ranged from integrating arts in the classroom and recognizing developmental delays in children to yoga and teaching healthy eating habits.

"This isn't a traditional conference where people just sit and listen," Wolff said. "We designed the experience to be active, immersive and reflective.

"Participants learned these wellness tools in real time – tools that not only support their work, but also their personal well-being."

Grenada Head Start teachers Mary Watson and Stephaine Fair said they had never been to a conference like this one. They agreed that they are renewed and excited to share what they learned with their 3- and 4-year-old students.

"This has allowed us to relax our mind and prepare for the new year," Watson said. "It has given us goodness to think about and the joy we're going to provide the children.

"We plan to use yoga, move to learn and all the activities that have been shared. They are so exciting – we can't wait to go start."

Besides adding yoga with her students, Pam Whatley, of Indianola First Methodist preschool, is looking forward to implementing the gardening activities she learned.

"Gardening is exciting and is something we are certainly going to do," Whatley said. "It'll be fun watching things grow with our students."

Since the curriculum launched in 2019, educators have seen results – from students eating and talking about healthy foods to practicing emotional regulation and conflict resolution, Wolff said.

"Teachers report that students are using classroom safe spaces and tools like deep breathing, yoga or conflict management strategies to manage emotions more effectively," she said.

Felicia Pollard, director of the pre-K collaborative for the Pontotoc City School District, is looking forward to implementing some of the skills and tools from the conference with the district's pre-K teachers. She particularly liked how the conference focused first on teachers' well-being.

"I loved that day one was focused on self-care, and day two was focused on how do we care for our students," Pollard said. "The next piece for us in Pontotoc would be now that our teachers are happy and whole, we're teaching students to be happy and whole and we want to push it forward to the parents and community."

Growing wellness from the classroom into the community is what Stapp and Wolff envision.

"Through this conference, we hope participants gain a shared understanding of the why behind our work – why modeling healthy behaviors and emotional intelligence matters," Wolff said. "We want attendees to walk away with both practical tools and a deeper commitment to their own well-being, so they can better support children and families in their communities."

Top: Early childhood education teachers, administrators and nutritionists from across the state learn yoga techniques to use and share with their students as part of the inaugural Whole Child Wellness in Early Childhood Education Conference. The conference, held July 14-15, attracted 160 professionals to campus. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services