Starting Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunch, ten-minute mindful breathing Sessions will be held for students feeling overwhelmed from school and extracurriculars. These sessions will take place during the first half of lunch, as to not interfere with students’ free period.

English teacher Randi Metsch-Ampel, is the creator of these drop-in sessions. She formed this idea last year in her AP English classes when she encouraged students to take a three-minute break for mindful breathing to ease their nerves. “I could see the relief in people’s faces and postures, and I got the idea that this would be a good thing for more kids,” Metsch-Ampel said.  

The aim of the program is to bring kind curious and non-judgemental awareness to any situation and to relax and relieve stress during the week. Metsch-Ampel believes breathing exercises and calming speech opens the mind of students and helps them learn better. These exercises can also be used outside of school to calm the nerves of students during high-stress moments.

As of now, the program will run the entire year with a possibility of more days being added to the originally planned Tuesday and Thursday dates.