Several TBP campuses will soon be implementing the Mindful Music Moments program in partnership with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) to provide students each school day with a few minutes of mindfulness time accompanied by classical music.

“Mindful Music [is] an organization that combines mindfulness, social/emotional learning techniques, and world-class music into short, 4 minute-long, powerful audio journeys played over the PA or delivered virtually and/or in classrooms every day for all students and teachers.” DSO Education Coordinator Sarah Hatler said. “Mindful Music reaches more than 100,000+ students nationally in 290+ schools, preK-12, partnering with world-class performing arts organizations… They have been featured nationally on such esteemed programs as PBS News Hour.”

Panola Vice Principal Leia Jobe has spearheaded TBP’s adoption of the Mindful Music Moments program, set to begin this fall semester.

“The idea came about at our Convocation in August when TBP students were performing for all of our teachers,” Jobe said. “I first heard about the Mindful Music Moments program from the DSO and put it on my passion projects list. I reached out to the DSO team about doing it at Panola.”

TBP’s Jefferson and Pafford campus are also planning to implement the Mindful Music Moments program soon, in part, as an effort to help students adjust to in-person schooling following the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve had several students struggle to adjust to being back in the school environment, possibly due to COVID-19 and the social-emotional adjustments students are making,” Jobe said. “So, we wanted something that could help with that and enrich student lives culturally along with the mindfulness component.”

Social-emotional learning, which is an important priority in TBP’s COVID-19 recovery now underway, is at the heart of the Mindful Music Moments program.

“We understand that this past year has been challenging, not only for teachers and staff, but for students and families as well, and we believe we’ve found a way to make a lasting change in the school culture with these brief but impactful moments of music,” Hatler said.

At the Panola Campus, the Mindful Music Moment will occur each day after the announcements, which happen first thing in the morning, and will involve playing a short 3-4-minute classical music segment.

“With my background in art, I see this program as being about harnessing the imagination and opening up a student’s world to include mindfulness, thoughtfulness, imagination and inspiration during our school day,” Jobe said. “We’re so focused on academic recovery after the pandemic, this will give students a chance to connect on a deeper level.”

Parents also have a role in helping to reinforce the benefits of mindfulness with their students.

“This is such an important investment in our students,” Jobe said. “If parents want access to these kinds of resources in the community, we want to make those opportunities available to our TBP families. We know that people can connect through music, so we want that avenue opened.”