Mary Benolich
Mary has worked as a teacher for almost twenty years, the last fourteen with her current school district located in a small town on the North Fork of Long Island. For the most part, she has taught students in the elementary grades as a literacy specialist and more recently, She has been teaching English language learners at the middle and high school level. The practice of mindfulness mediation has been foundational to her emotional and psychological health since she first read Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki as a teenager, and the gentleness and compassion inherent in her personal mindfulness practice has been integral to who she is as an educator. In 2008, she first brought mindfulness education to her district after completing the Mindfulschools.org curriculum for grades K-5. She looks forward to the work she will be doing in the TEL program. This opportunity comes at a time when her district is finally embracing mindfulness as part of the district-wide wellness initiative, and other districts in my area are also showing interest in programs that embrace mindfulness and social/emotional learning initiatives. She thinks she is particularly suited to assist districts and educators in implementing mindfulness-based social and emotional learning programs for students and she looks forward to being specifically qualified to do this important and necessary work.