Schools create moments of calm for stressed-out students
Mon., Dec. 19, 2016
For much of last Thursday morning, Caroline Maher’s head was filled with anxiety – about the long essay due in her English class, the work for her two advanced placement classes, her after-school practice to prepare for an upcoming dance-team performance. In school and after school – with homework, youth-group meetings and a weekend job – nearly every minute of the 16-year-old’s time is scheduled. But for 20 minutes each day at Roosevelt High in Seattle – part of a break the school instituted for all students this fall – she has time to breathe. With her feet on the floor and hands in her lap shortly after her U.S. history class ended, she took three deep breaths and a long slow exhale out.