As an intern for the MCPS Student Well Being and Achievement team, Queen Balina co-founded Students Speaking Up as a Junior at Winston Churchill High School. The program allows high school students to record short, professional quality videos about issues that affect them in partnership with MCPS TV.

Since the founding of Students Speaking Up in January 2021, five episodes have been recorded, covering a variety of topics, including the COVID-19 pandemic and mental wellness. Nearly a year since the program launch, Queen is still working to recruit more student volunteers and elevate the voices of students across the county.

Claudia Pinto and Sergio Maldonado are the new Wellness Trainers at Clopper Mill Elementary School. Their role is to proactively contribute to the general wellness and wellbeing of the Clopper Mill School community. The Wellness Room (pictured here) serves as the hub for wellness-focused education such as mindfulness, healthy eating and restorative practices. They are especially excited about implementing the UMD SNAP ED nutrition curriculum and healthy meal tastings. Ms. Pinto and Mr. Maldonado look forward to welcoming students, staff and families into the Wellness Room and programs.

How do you define Mindfulness?

I define Mindfulness as simply being in the present moment without judgment of thoughts or actions around you. As the Mindfulness Teacher at BCMS, I am a resource for all in the building. We like to look at it as a partnership with all stakeholders. I provide tools and strategies that work in conjunction with restorative practices to support staff, students, and all other stakeholders. Incorporating mindfulness and making it a part of our culture supports an environment of wellness, mutual respect, empathy, and excellence. I am extremely proud to have been charged with writing the secondary curriculum for the mindfulness course that I am currently teaching at BCMS. In this course students focus on the present moment, breathwork, self-regulation, stress management, resilience, compassion, and empathy, as well as a working understanding of how we can use our brain, body, and breath to combat stress and anxiety.

What are your upcoming projects or programs?

BCMS regularly promotes Mindfulness during school-wide morning announcements. Mindfulness videos have also been incorporated with the Leader in Me lessons. The Zen Den is a held space for all lunches at BCMS. We also take the opportunity to incorporate Mindfulness awareness in our parent outreach events.

Who is someone in your life you admire and why?

I will always admire Dr. Betty Collins. She was the proud principal at Galway Elementary School. This was my first teaching job with MCPS. Dr. Collins continues to be a light to all who come in contact with her. She has the unique ability to make everyone that she encounters feel like they are the only two people in a room, even if there is a crowd. Talk about being in the present moment! I admire her ability to connect with everyone she meets and I continue to model that same ability both in my personal and professional life.

What are your 3 tips to be more mindful and grounded in everyday life?

1. Breathe - Your breath is your superpower!
2. Practice Your Pause
3. Respond rather than React

What are you happiest doing when you are not working?

I love spending time with my family, friends, and my dogs! Meditation and yoga provided the spiritual connection and grounding needed to guide me through the ups and downs of life.

What excites you and EWTC most about the current partnership with Y.O.G.A. for Youth and MCPS?

We feel honored to be partnered with Y.O.G.A. for Youth and MCPS. At EWTC our purpose is “We Exist to Inspire”.  The “We” is the collective of all of us sharing this time on the planet together.  We recognize our scope and reach are limited as individuals and when “We” come together, the impact is exponential.  Y.O.G.A. for Youth has developed a program that is serving hundreds of thousands of young children, young adults and families through the teaching of mindfulness in school and every day life. Each moment of mindfulness, each intentional breath, each elevated interaction with another person shifts our future. The passion of all teachers to serve students is admirable. They want to impact students lives for the better. They do the work they do to create a brighter future for All.  The Y.O.G.A. for Youth program provides another set of tools to do their best work.  EWTC is not able to be in person doing this work and our team is focused on our areas of expertise with the tea business.  Through our success, we are able to invest in partnerships like Y.O.G.A. for Youth and MCPS where together we do more good.

What is your go-to breathing technique for calming the nervous system?

I use several. The main one is simple being present with the breath and being intentional with each inhale and exhale, using the full belly, filling the diaphragm and expanding the lungs.  Visualizing the breathing and focusing on the breath, calms the nerves and the mind.  The second is box breathing with equal time on the inhale, holding the breath in, the exhale, and holding the breath out… repeat. Finally, there is alternate nostril breathing depending on what is needed. If it is calming, focusing on breathing through the left nostril, or inhaling left, exhaling right.

What advice or words of encouragement do you have for young, emerging school-based yoga and mindfulness students?

Just try! Who does not want to feel calm and contained and able to face the challenges of youth and growth and expansion.  Each of us is scientifically unique.  There are no two people the same. Therefore, you are the most qualified person to be you. You are unique and special simply by being you.  Embrace yourself, love yourself, be proud of yourself and most importantly be kind to yourself. You are exactly who you are supposed to be.  In yoga, you start where you are and do what you can, and that is the perfect yoga for YOU.