How Reading Can Help Build Mentally Healthy Kids

Chores. Dinner. Sports. Work. Bath. Laundry. The to-do list never really stops for parents, does it? It’s easy to have good intentions for a child’s bedtime routine, but it’s also quite easy for life to get in the way, deflate those good intentions, and just skip the bedtime story altogether. ​ But what if I told you that five extra …

More Than a Game: How Pickleball Helped Me Find Belonging

I was drawn to pickleball in January of 2020 for reasons you might not expect. After selling our family home during the height of the real estate frenzy, we found ourselves unexpectedly renting an apartment for a year while searching for our next place. I was away from my neighborhood and friends, already feeling isolated by the pandemic, and quietly …

ADHD in the Classroom: How to Recognize Symptoms and Support for Students

Fidgeting, constant chatter, disruptions, these are the tell-tale signs of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) that educators have come to expect. But that’s only part of the story. ADHD shows up in far more ways than most people realize. ADHD is a condition that makes it hard for a person to focus, stay organized, and control their impulses. The CDC …

Reflections, Resolutions, and Right Now

‘Tis the season for renewed goals, hopes, passions, and aspirations. We quickly pack up the Christmas decorations in hopes of a fresh start and a closed door on the previous year. Some choose a special word to define the new year, some reflect back on the year before, while others set goals in hopes of a better year ahead. Oftentimes, …

What We Can Learn from Lives Lost Too Soon

TV cameras captured players waving a huge flag emblazoned with the number 94 on the sideline of a late-November Dallas Cowboys football game. The Cowboys mounted a comeback win from 21 points down against the Philadelphia Eagles, perhaps powered by extra motivation. Number 94 belonged to rookie player Marshawn Kneeland, who was found near AT&T Stadium on Nov. 6. He …

Stronger Than What Tried to Break Me

Sharing your story, good and bad, can be terrifying. Will you be judged? Is anyone going to listen, hear, or relate to you? Will it even make you feel better? It’s been 1,175 days, and all those thoughts are spiraling through my mind as I type this. I feel scared but also ready to share a story that changed me …

Teens: Love Over Lectures

Today’s teenagers have a lot going on, yet they are often blamed for their attitude, behavior, selfishness, and for constantly being on their phones. As a high school teacher, I had a front row seat with teens and often found that they felt misunderstood, unheard, and weighed down with pressure to hold it all together. In fact, I noticed that …

The Unexpected Gift of Sadness

Grief is strange, isn’t it? It settles in your chest, a heavy, unwelcome guest that you just can’t get rid of. For me, grief was no stranger. As the youngest child of older parents, I had experienced loss several times, and I thought that made me an expert, but what it actually did was teach me maladaptive coping skills that …