A Birthday Everyone Celebrates!

When John Mohrbacher turned 60 his wife decided he didn’t need another pair of socks. Instead, she wanted to recognize the licensed clinical social worker for his work with students.

“The best way to do that seemed to be to spread best practices, specifically his use of mindfulness mediation.” Gay Mohrbacher.

Mohrbacher turned to WFEE to create a partnership with Winchester Public Schools. The result? More than $5,000 dedicated to mindfulness training for teachers through a program called Mindful Schools.

WPS began working with Mindful Schools in 2017. The online training is designed to help students better regulate their emotions by first teaching educators how to practice mindfulness.

“When I asked for feedback after educators took the course, this is what I heard - I have become more patient, self-reflective, and careful with my words and actions. I have found beauty in small moments with my students and personally. I will definitely be better equipped to use this in my classroom in the fall.” Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Elineema

Gifts from the Mohrbacher family and friends plus a WFEE match will allow the district to train some 70 teachers in mindfulness, something that was a perfect birthday gift for John Mohrbacher.

“Mindfulness has been shown to boost attention, learning, self-regulation and emotional well-being. Building those qualities has been a cornerstone of my therapeutic work but they can become part of the classroom experience as well. I'm delighted to support WFEE and Winchester Schools on a program that shows teachers how to do just that.”

John Mohrbacher