In February 2023, principals from our 22 partner schools across the state came together in Huntington Beach for two days of learning, connection, and arts planning. The retreat focused on the neurobiological science of mindfulness, as it relates to leading and learning. As our guest facilitator, Dr. Niki Elliott of the Mindful Leaders Project, shared: “Regulation of the adult is the necessary prerequisite for healthy co-regulation of a child’s nervous system, brain, and behavior.”
Principals were given tools and knowledge to develop greater self-awareness of brain function, nervous systems and physical reactions in a variety of settings, from calm to stressful. Dr. Elliott shared strategies for self regulation and regulation of others in meeting and classroom settings, to help them more mindfully navigate and lead through difficult conversations with teachers, students and parents.
“The retreat offered valuable information for moving forward with arts integration in an authentic and meaningful way. The mind, body, breath gets at the heart of what makes great instruction happen because it takes into consideration all learners, leaders, and the community.”
– Attendee, Principal Retreat
Following are photo highlights from our time together:
The retreat kicked off with a special performance from Zamboni Middle School’s Jazz Band in partnership with Jazz Angels.
The retreat began with teachers engaging in an art activity to reflect on challenges and successes across four key areas of their work through the arts: building collaboration and a shared vision among their teachers; developing teacher capacity to integrate the arts into the classroom; building a positive school culture and climate; and engaging families.
Dr. Niki Elliott taught attendees a series of breathing exercises to bring awareness to their bodies and practice self-regulation and mindfulness.
Dr. Elliott had principals work on developing and sharing energy profiles to understand what environmental conditions help them feel good and practice self-care.
Participants studied the structure of the brain and the sections that support our sense of safety, self-regulation, memory making, and more.
To reflect upon their retreat experience and intentions, principals engaged in a journaling and vision board collage workshop. The collage workshop invited principals to use metaphor, color, and imagery to create their vision boards. Their final collages serve as reminders of their retreat learnings and commitment to implementing mindful leadership practices on their school campuses.
“THANK YOU for this opportunity. I truly value what was presented, and I want to focus on being mindful to be a better leader.”
– Attendee, Principal Retreat