Heather Schwartz

Heather Schwartz, M.Ed. is a practice specialist at CASEL. Her current work involves translating research from the field into practical, engaging content and tools for the CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL. Heather also serves as the lead program design coder for the CASEL Guide to Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs.

Before coming to CASEL, Heather worked as an instructional coach and 7th-grade teacher on Chicago’s southwest side. During this time, her own mindfulness practice was an important tool that allowed her to stay grounded and present during the challenges of teaching. Recognizing this, she sought training to lead mindfulness classes for grades K-12 through Mindful Schools. Heather is excited to be participating in the Educating Mindfully Conference and honored to be among so many educators working to support students. 

Talk Abstract: Many educators have identified both mindfulness and social emotional learning strategies as beneficial for their students. But what is the relationship between these two approaches? Are they competitors for precious classroom time? Or allies in our mission to support students? This session will explore how mindfulness programs came to be part of CASEL’s review of social and emotional learning programs, and how mindfulness and SEL can be used together in a creative and productive manner. We will also touch on the role of adult SEL in CASEL’s model of systemic SEL, especially as they pertain to mindfulness.

Amanda Moreno

Amanda Moreno, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Erikson Institute in Chicago and has worked in the early childhood field for over 25 years. She designs, implements, and studies programs at the intersection of social-emotional wellbeing and learning. Currently, she is the Principal Investigator of a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) grant, which is comparing the effectiveness of a traditional social and emotional learning (SEL) approach to a mindfulness-based approach in grades K-2 in 30 schools in Chicago.

She is also the director and lead designer of Erikson’s new online master’s degree in early childhood education with a specialization in social and emotional learning (SEL). Dr. Moreno and her team comprise the “SEL Initiative” at Erikson, which partners with schools and communities to infuse developmentally-, culturally-, and trauma-informed SEL strategies.

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Talk Abstract: All of us in the field of education know that children and childhood are precious, or we wouldn’t have chosen this line of work. But recent research from the fields of resilience science, developmental psychology, neuroscience, and epigenetics are underscoring the urgency of this idea more than ever before. We understand now that children are not just precious in the sense of being highly valued, but also in the sense of being easily “breakable”. When children are invisible to or misunderstood by important adults in their life, they don’t “get over it” – they adapt, usually in ways that compromise their potential in other areas. This risk cuts across socioeconomic and cultural lines. So while the talk will start out talking about some bad news (children aren’t as resilient as we once thought), we’ll end by talking about the power we have to make sure we are no part of leaving such scars, and what we can do to help children thrive. We’ll discuss how recent movements in education such as mindfulness, self-care, social and emotional learning (SEL), and trauma-responsive schools are really all about one thing: love. When we bring attachment theory to school, we acknowledge that children are whole people, and that “caring deeply” is not in competition with the purposes of school, but rather allows those purposes to be fully realized.

Barnaby Spring

Barnaby Spring is an actor, artist, writer, educator, public speaker, activist, certified mindfulness and yoga teacher, educational theorist, husband, father and currently serves as Director of Mindfulness In Education, in the Office of the First Deputy Chancellor, in the New York City Department of Education where he has served since the mid-90s as a teacher working with girls on Rikers Island, then as a Dean of Students, then as Principal and now in this current role.

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Talk Abstract: As renowned business management guru and courageous, educational leader, Peter Drucker and NYCDOE Chancellor Richard Carranza, respectfully, help us to understand the need for holistic systems management and educational reform by telling us: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast", Barnaby Spring posits that if this is true, it must then follow that "Trauma eats culture at every meal, and as a midnight snack in the darkness of the murder of a child's soul." 

Inspired by Joan Halifax's The Fruitful Darkness:  A Journey Through Buddhist Practice and Tribal Wisdom, Barnaby will offer up his own journey as a survivor of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) to address one of the most critical issues we are facing around Mindfulness (or anything, anyone) in Public Education today:  Trauma. Trauma in the schools, Trauma-sensitive classrooms. 

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Mindfulness has a role to play in the authentic relationship of trust and confidence, a bridge that both student and teacher must build together by walking it; by learning and growing together.  

Whose trauma are we talking about anyway?  Our own? Our students? Our world?  How does the concept of "story" and the telling and hearing of one's story help all of us to take the journey of the wounded healer working within the Western Model of Education in our increasingly complex and ever-changing times - when the very futures of our youth and are planet are at stake?

Gina Biegel

Gina M. Biegel, LMFT, is a San Francisco Bay area–based psychotherapist, researcher, speaker, and author specializing in bringing mindfulness-based work with adolescents. She is the founder of Stressed Teens, which has been offering MBSR-T to adolescents, families, schools, professionals, and the community since 2004. She created MBSR-T to help teens ina large HMO’s outpatient department of child and adolescent psychiatry, who were not receiving relief or amelioration of their physical and psychological symptoms with the use of a multitude of other evidence-based practices. 

She is an expert and pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based approaches to youth, she is the author of Be Mindful & Stress Less: 50 Ways to Deal with Your (Crazy) Life, The Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens (first and second edition), the Be Mindful Card Deck for Teens and the forthcoming book Mindfulness for Student Athletes: A Workbook to Help Teens Reduce Stress and Enhance Performance. She also has a mindfulness practice audio CD, Mindfulness for Teens Practices to Reduce Stress and Enhance Well-Being. to complement the MBSR-T program. She provides worldwide intensive ten-week online trainings and works with teens and families individually and in groups.  Her work has been featured on the Today Show, CNN, Reuters, the New York Times, and in Tricycle to name a few. For more information, visit her website, www.stressedteens.com.

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Talk Abstract: As they try to navigate the demands of school, online social lives, and daily pressures, many teens and young adults today are worried, in pain, angry, and even out of control. In fact, 1 in 5 of them currently has or will have a serious mental illness. To make it through the emotional dysregulation of these complex years, they need a strong inner compass, and in this session, you’ll discover the evidence‐based protocol that combines mindfulness and positive neuroplasticity to help establish that compass. You’ll explore: 

■ How to help teens and young adults turn positive experiences into lasting resources for safety, satisfaction, and connection 

■ Recent advances in positive neuroplasticity that cultivate the four levels of self‐care

■ How to teach teens and young adults to shift from reacting impulsively to responding mindfully to stress 

Matt Dewar

Dr. Matthew Dewar is COSEM's 18-19 President and the founder of JOURNEY 30K, a personal development platform that utilizes wellness and mindfulness strategies to transform individuals and organizations. Matthew is also a high school teacher, well-being coordinator, and learning facilitator who has designed and implemented teacher professional development and school wellness curricula, including mindfulness-based wellness for faculty and students. Most recently, Matthew has created and implemented mindfulness programming for professional and collegiate athletes. His work has been featured on TEDx, NPR, and the National Wellness Institute's podcast. He is the author of Education and Well-Being: An Ontological Inquiry. Watch Matt's TEDx Talk

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Talk Abstract: Imagine a yearlong freshman course that sets all students up for academic, social, and emotional success. In this session, Dr. Matt Dewar shares his experiences integrating mindfulness into Wellness for Life, a mandatory freshman course at Lake Forest High School that does the following:

• Teaches mindfulness and stress-management skills 

• Integrates SEL with an emphasis on depression awareness 

• Moves beyond disease prevention to “wellness” and whole-person vitality

• Cultivates leadership and mentoring through peer-trained TAs 

• Develops executive functioning skills

• Instills a passion for movement and fitness

• Introduces all students to building-wide tier one supports 

• Fulfills freshman PE and Health credits