FALL 2016

Helping Students Thrive!

Backpacks & So Much More
In this issue:
Just Breathe: A Mindful Initiative in Action
Promoting School Success
Making of a Mentor

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
David T. Wallace, Esq.
Chair

FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO

Lessons for a lifetime

A brightly colored backpack, a fresh new box of Crayola
crayons, a cool new outfit, and a brand new pair of
squeaky clean shoes these are just a few of the things
that remind us all of the start of a new school year. Think
back to when you were little. Remember the sights and
sounds of the 1st day of school. Remember what it felt like.
Were you excited? Nervous? Perhaps a little uneasy about
what the new school year would bring? Did you wonder,
What will my teacher be like? Will my friends and I be in
class together? Hope so! Who will I sit with at lunch?

Ric Powell
Vice Chair
Jim Formal
Treasurer
Jenny Franta
Secretary

BOARD MEMBERS
Peter A. Alpaugh
Christopher F. Bolling, MD
Sara M. Cooperrider
Susan J. Cummings
Aimee B. Gardner, BS, CP
Kenneth A. Goode
Robert Chip Hendon II
Sharon L. Manwiller-Ney
Jonathan D. McCann
Laura Mitchell
Candice Peters
Kim Storer
Julie S. Washington
Karl F. Weidner
Robert Bob Welch
Sourushe Zandvakili
Marilyn Zayas-Davis, Esq.
President & CEO
James R. Mason

BEECH ACRES
FOUNDATION BOARD
Peter A. Alpaugh
Len Haussler
James R. Mason
Mindy McLaughlin
James E. Russell
Timothy E. Stautberg

While the cast of characters on lunchboxes has evolved over the years from
Wonder Woman to Elsa, some things about the start of a new school year
transcend the generations. For families with limited means, the cost and pressures
of back-to-school shopping can be overwhelming. Can you imagine being in the
position where you need to choose between buying your children school supplies
or tending to your familys basic needs?
Thankfully, because of YOUR generosity, more than 400 local children started
off this school year fully equipped for the classroom. THANK YOU!!! Rulers,
notebooks, folders, and binders might not feel like much of a contribution, but to a
child living in poverty, it represents the opportunity to begin the new year just like
everybody else, and that, my friends, is priceless in the heart of a child!
As exciting as our fill-a-backpack drive is, this program is just the tip of the iceberg.
When it comes to supporting schools, students and families, our team at Beech
Acres is all in! In this issue, you will learn about our growing wellness programs
within local schools a project made possible through a generous grant from the
Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board. Whats really exciting
about this initiative is the way in which we are able to tailor programming to the
unique needs of each school community. Through collaborations with principals,
teachers, parents, and local organizations, we are co-creating sustainable solutions
designed to provide this next generation of students with the social-emotional tools
needed for success in both the classroom and in life.
In the article, Just breathe, we invite you to take a peek into the growing
mindfulness movement at Sands Montessori. After launching a Family Mindfulness
program just last year, Principal Sarah Lord and her faculty and staff have dedicated
precious time within the classroom and on the schools calendar to ensuring that
the critical messaging of mindfulness and character strengths is fully integrated
within their community on an on-going basis. Its a model we are monitoring closely
from a data perspective, in hopes of demonstrating, once again, that holistic family
and community-based programing and support, starting at an early age, pays off!
And for those students who continue to struggle along the way, Beech Acres
Therapeutic Mentors are there to provide support- people like George Jackson, who
step up in big ways and walk alongside troubled teens wrestling to discover their
own path in life. This spring, George retired after serving as a Beech Acres Mentor
for more than 17 years. Thats right 17 years! Be sure to read about Georges story
in Making of a Mentor. Who knows? Perhaps his legacy will inspire you to invest in
the life of a young teen.
As our family calendars ramp up this fall, it would do us all some good to remember
those timeless lessons we ourselves learned in kindergarten Share, play nice, take
turns, and make time daily for rest (only this time, minus those dreaded
naptime cots!).
Wishing you and your family a wonderful start to the school year!

James R. Mason
President & CEO

Just Breathe: Sands Montessori

Launches 2nd year of Mindful Initiative
BY: CHRISTY BERNING
Picture for a moment a brightly
colored butterfly, fluttering
around exploring nature. Our
minds are like this little butterfly
moving quickly and in so
many different directions. Now,
imagine trying to gently catch
this butterfly with a net. This
is what its like when we try to
catch our minds and bring them
back to the present moment, to
recognize our bodies and our
breathing pattern.
This Butterfly Mind exercise
is just one of the activities
that preschoolers at Sands
Montessori experienced last
year as they explored the topic
of mindfulness one of the
key SEL (Social and Emotional
Learning) skills that helps kids
and adults regulate emotions, build stronger
relationships, and form healthier habits.

Mindfulness and Why It Matters

Dr. Amy Saltzman defines mindfulness as, Paying

attention to your life, here and now, with kindness
and curiosity.
Mindfulness has been a subject of study for many
years, dating back to 1979 when Jon Kabat-Zinn
founded MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction), a
meditation method used to improve pain management
in hospitalized adults by alleviating issues surrounding
sleep, stress, anxiety, and high blood pressure. Since
Zinns groundbreaking work, hundreds of studies have
been conducted on the benefits of mindfulness for a wide
variety of populations experiencing a range of problems.
In 2014, researchers at the University of WisconsinMadison conducted a study measuring the impact
of delivering a 12-week mindfulness-based Kindness
Curriculum to preschool children. The results were quite
promising! Students who received intervention showed
greater improvements in social competence and earned
higher report card grades in the domains of learning,
health, and social-emotional development, according
to the study. They even exhibited increased levels of
cognitive flexibility and an enhanced ability to delay
gratification (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2014).
In other words, mindfulness training was shown to
improve a childs ability to manage emotions, get along
better with peers, and improve school performance. While
more research is welcome on the benefits for children
and their parents, we are seeing positive results and are
excited about the possible implications of these programs
on long-term student success.

Year #1 Planting Seeds of Mindfulness

As part of Beech Acres Promoting School Success initiative,

our School-based Services team collaborated with the staff
at Sands Montessori in 2015 to introduce mindfulness into the
classrooms and to the schools larger community. During their
Winterfest event, families created Kindness Elves to encourage
greater awareness around acts of kindness within their homes.
Just a few months later, we hosted a Family Yoga Night with
record attendance. The evening received rave reviews from
parents and kids alike.
The mindfulness fun continued in April with rock meditations
at the schools Community Health & Wellness event and
concluded with an end-of-the-year celebration where families
could choose from various station activities, including family
yoga, mindful eating, and the creation of kindness flowers. Not
bad for Year #1!
When our team met with Sands Principal, Sarah Lord, at the
end of the school year, she was happy with the progress, and
yet ready for more. She expressed her desire to invest in a
more comprehensive program for the upcoming school year.
Allison Staud, Beech Acres Therapeutic Provider for Sands
Montessori shares, Ms. Lord is an incredible advocate for her
students! Her willingness to embrace new ideas and tweak
programs as needed is why we are able to take last years
Family Mindfulness Initiative to a whole new level this year!

Year #2 The Launch of a School-wide,

Strength-based Mindful Initiative

Before school even began last month, Sands Montessori

teachers participated in an all-staff training on mindfulness
and on this years new strength-based curriculum. This
meeting was key to kicking off the initiative with unified
thinking and a celebration of whats to come.

...continues on page 7
CONNECTIONS | 3

Promoting School Success

BUILDING A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR SCHOOL AND LIFE

BY: CHRISTY BERNING
We asked, What is your schools
greatest strength? What
are some of the unique assets of
your community? How might we
leverage these to benefit your
students and families?
What are some of your schools
pain points? How might we help
alleviate these?

Meet Molly, Wally, and Dina. As members of the Incredible

Years team, they are gearing up for another exciting
school year. During their visits to classrooms, they will help
preschoolers develop key social-emotional skills by sharing
their personal stories their own unique struggles and
challenges. Oh, and did I mention that this cast of characters
just happens to be puppets? Incredible Years its one of
the many tools our School Based Services team is leveraging
within local schools to provide young students with a
strong start.
Recent studies have demonstrated the power of prevention
when it comes to helping students develop SEL (Social and
Emotional Learning) skills at an early age. Not only have
these skills been shown, in the short-term, to increase student
performance and aid in classroom management, but in a
20-year study conducted by Pennsylvania State and Duke
Universities, researchers found that higher social competency
skills in kindergarten actually predicted healthier and more
successful outcomes later on in life.
So, what does all of this mean? As the research indicates, in
addition to teaching hard skills such as reading, math, and
writing, its important for schools to focus on equipping
students with soft skills abilities such as resiliency,
relationship building, problem solving, self-awareness, and
emotional regulation. Thats where we come in. Last year,
thanks to a generous grant from the Hamilton County Mental
Health and Recovery Services Board, we co-created mental
health prevention programs in collaboration with five
area elementary schools with a focus on promoting
social-emotional wellness.
Just as every child has unique strengths and challenges, so
too does each school community. Thats why our very first
step in building these programs was to simply listen. Our
team participated in various listening sessions with school
administrators and parents, armed with lots of questions.

4 | CONNECTIONS

From there, we determined the

unique goals for each school
and transitioned into the next
phase brainstorming. During
various think tank sessions, we
generated a variety of ideas and
discussed which tools within our
school-based services toolbox
might be helpful for each particular
community. And when a need
did not match up with one of
our current tools, we discerned
whether we needed to expand the toolbox and/or possibly
even explore outside community resources in order to meet
particular needs. During our inaugural year, we were able to
strategize, collaborate, and implement a number of successful
initiatives within each of the schools.
The 2016-2017 school year is underway and promises to be
even bigger and better! With a focus on serving grades PK
through 2nd, we are excited to be expanding our initiative and
are even launching new preventative programs at Westwood
Elementary and Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy
this fall.
Partnering with schools to support children and families is
nothing new to Beech Acres. We currently serve 16 schools
within Hamilton and Warren Counties in various capacities,
including peer support, prevention programs, and mental
health services.
As Jennifer Wikette, Peer Support Program Manager, shares,
Relationships are at the core of our School-Based Services
programs. We are in the local schools daily, listening to and
responding to the unique needs of each school community.
She goes on to explain, School administrators, teachers, and
parents all have a great deal on their plate. It takes time to gain
trust and build momentum for new projects, but once folks are
able to experience little wins, they invest further. Thats what
makes our preventative programs so exciting! By bringing
together stakeholders (administrators, teachers, parents, and
community leaders) to collaborate on key skill building now,
we hope to build a brighter future for all students down
the road.
References:
For more information on the 20-year study by Pennsylvania State and
Duke Universities, visit:
http://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2015/07/new-researchchildrenwith-strong-social-skills-in-kindergarten.html

Building a Brighter Future for

Students: The Co-Creation Process
(from the bottom on up)

6. Customizing
the Design:
Refinement of programs;
determining what
works best

5. Inspections
:
Implementation/
testing of programs

4. Building Materials:
Vetting of which programs
might work best for a
particular community

Brainstorming of various
solutions to support goals

Development of goals

1. Foundation:
Listening Sessions

Wed like to send a special shout-out

of thanks to our Promoting School
Success partners for the 2016-2017
school year:

Below are some of the programs we leverage in working

with schools. No two schools are exactly alike, which is why
we customize a package for each school that best fits their
communitys needs.
i-Care Character building curriculum which features
10-15 minute weekly lessons on character strengths.
Program features a home-based component, where
families receive information on each character strength,
along with suggestions on home-based activities to
reinforce messaging.
Incredible Years Early childhood program, incorporating
the use of life-sized puppets, where Beech Acres staff
members team up with PK & K teachers to work with
students in small group settings. Storylines emphasize the
enhancement of emotional regulation, problem solving skills,
and peer relationships.
Mental Health and Therapeutic Services Mental health
therapy, provided on-location at schools and through our
Beech Acres offices. CPST (Community Psychiatric Support
Treatment) is also available on-site at schools, as well as in
community, home or office-based settings. Both our therapy
and treatment programs offer individual, family, and groupbased options, tailored to each childs individual needs.

3. Installation of Studs
:
2. Outlining of
the Floorplans:

Beech Acres Promoting School

Success Toolbox:

Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy

Hays-Porter Elementary
Mt. Washington Elementary
Sands Montessori
Sayler Park Elementary
Westwood Elementary

Thank you for your vision, for your

partnership and for your continued
commitment to promoting
student success!

Mindfulness Initiatives Classroom curriculum, as well

as family-based programs & events. Did you know that
Beech Acres has an official Mindfulness Committee that
meets regularly to share ideas and promote the topic of
mindfulness throughout all program areas?
Parenting with Love & Logic - Practical parenting strategies
to manage childrens behavior at all stages of development.
Peer Support Hired Parent Peers with shared experience
who work with parents to help connect them with

school and community resources, navigating

mental health systems, and coaching them on

key parenting challenges.
Second Step Prevention Groups
Research-based curriculum designed to
help students understand and manage
their emotions, control their reactions, be
aware of others feelings, problem-solve
and make responsible decisions. Classroom
facilitators provide weekly 15-30 minute
sessions for each 2nd grade classroom.
Teaching with Love and Logic Teacher
training in strategies for supporting
students in the classroom while
promoting problem solving and
resiliency skills.
Trauma-informed care
Critical training for faculty and staff,
so that they have the skills to both
identify and support students
within their environment who
have experienced high levels of

toxic stress.

Making of a Mentor:
The George Jackson story
Everyone has a story. These are words that George Jackson
lives by - the knowledge that every person is special and
brings with them their own, unique life experiences. He isnt
interested in fixing anyone, judging them, or telling them what
to do. He simply wants to listen, laugh, and trade stories.
Although George Jackson is officially retiring after serving
more than 17 years as a Beech Acres mentor, something tells
me that he will go on unofficially mentoring for many years to
come. Really, George has been mentoring, in some capacity,
for most of his life. When George was a little boy, living in
Walnut Hills, his mom gave him a tray of candy and cookies
and told him to go outside and share with his friends. He
laughed at the memory of his response, You want me to go
out and give them what I have, when they dont ever share
with me? That was exactly what she wanted him to do and
he did, albeit a little reluctantly.
Later, he would come to deeply appreciate that experience,
for it taught him the importance and joy of sharing with
others. And it wasnt just about giving away goodies, but
rather, the sharing of himself that has had the deepest impact
on Georges life. Just like his mom said about the candy and
cookies, You might not have much, but what you do have, you
share with other people, George took that lesson to heart and
today sharing has become one of his greatest strengths.
In addition to the single mother who raised him, there were
other significant people in his life, especially Mr. Dempsey
Smith, who delivered coal to the Jacksons house. Mr. Smith
gave a very eager, nine-year-old George a job in his moving
company. He was the father that George never had, and
despite the fact that he died when George was still a teenager,
he had a lasting and profound impact on him. Mr. Dempsey
Smith was an old fashioned mentor, he said, remembering
him fondly. He impacted my life by spending time with me. He
affected my values concerning hard work, the importance of
education, being on time, and not allowing anything to make
me feel inferior. George now passes along these values to
everyone he mentors.

BY: HEATHER MCGUIRE

shared, Its gratifying to meet young people whom you

previously didnt know, who are willing to listen to advice and
change their ways. Theyve affected my life as much as Ive
impacted theirs.
Life hasnt always been easy or fair for Georgeand he has
always openly shared his challenges with his mentees. Perhaps
it has been these moments that have created the deepest
bonds and made George the beloved friend, coach, and
trusted mentor he has become. I have experienced lots of
setbacks in my life, all of which were blessings preparing me to
survive future adversity, he said thoughtfully. We are kindred
spirits, my mentees and I.
Mentoring is an awesome opportunity to affect a young life
and you only need time. You dont have to know everything.
Its more about trying not to judge others and recognizing
that youre not superior, George advises. Mentoring is about
establishing a relationship investing in someone else. It is one
of those precious experiences in life that is both simple and
deeply important.
George would often buy his mentees treats or small gifts. But
all that is extra, he said. The real gold in this is Ive got some
knowledge and a way of thinking about things that I think
they can benefit from, he explained. The real gold, of course,
is George himself. And, the fact that he has changed so many
lives for the better one story at a time.
Thank you, George! Your contributions are deeply appreciated
and your legacy is immeasurable.

Before mentoring for Beech Acres, George was a social worker

for 32 years. He was also a coach, and then commissioner
for the Inner City Youth Football League for 34 years. Both
experiences offered him opportunities to invest in, teach,
and work with people of all ages. He heard many stories and
learned the importance of sharing his own. I bonded well
with the guys I mentored, he said, reflectively. It didnt take
anything special it took honesty, it took being willing to
listen to them, and being willing to share. So I always started
out with some stories!
It seems to be this simple, sincere approach to people that
has made George so good at what he does. He has lost count
of how many boys hes mentored over the years, but he has
created relationships with all of them, keeps in touch with
many of them, and knows that he has impacted their lives
that he has changed each ones personal story. Jackson

6 | CONNECTIONS

Make a Difference!

Become a Therapeutic Mentor

To learn more about how you can follow in Georges
footsteps and leverage your unique strengths to impact
the life of a young teen, visit https://beechacres.org/
be-a-mentor/ or call 513.233.4861.

We are so fortunate to have

partners like Children, Inc.
and City Silence working
alongside us on this
exciting initiative.
Just Breathe

continued from page 7

And as is commonly the case, with bigger and better

programs comes the need for increased capacity and
additional resources. Thats why this summer, we reached
out to Sarah Zawaly and the folks at Children, Inc., to partner
on infusing their character strengths messaging together with
our mindfulness curriculum. Its also why we are partnering
with Stacy Sims, founder of the City Silence project, to bring a
daily program, called Mindful Musical Moments to the students
at Sands Montessori.
Leveraging classical music, Mindful Musical Moments educates
teachers and students about mindfulness and character
strengths and is the perfect complement to our initiative.
As Jaimi Cabrera, Beech Acres Behavioral Health Program
Manager shares, We are so fortunate to have partners like
Children, Inc. and City Silence working alongside us on this
exciting initiative. Each of these organizations brings unique
strengths to the table that will enhance our program offerings
and make this initiative all-the-more effective and impactful for
students, teachers, and families alike.
The initiatives official school-wide kick-off launches on
Sept. 23 with a student assembly re-introducing the
mindfulness theme and celebrating Septembers official
character strength theme of kindness. Following each of
the years three scheduled assemblies, 6th graders will lead
the younger students in small group activities designed to
reinforce that months designated character strength. In
keeping with the kindness
theme, students in
September will be creating a
Kindness Eagle. Each group
will write examples of acts
of kindness they have done
recently on a feather and
then these feathers will be
placed on the large Sands
Eagle (the schools mascot)
in the gym. This Kindness
Eagle will remain up
throughout the year for
other acts of kindness to
be added.

cafes (sponsored by Sands Montessoris Parent Organization,

SMPO), and ongoing communications and tips to reinforce
monthly themes. And, you thought your school year calendar
was filling up quickly!
Stay tuned as we share more about this exciting initiative
in future publications. We will be tracking the progress of
students over multiple years with a focus on grades PK
through 2nd in hopes of demonstrating how investing in
strength-based, mindful wellness early on, can help students
experience even greater success in the future. To learn more
about our Beech Acres School-based Service offerings,
contact Behavioral Health Program Manager, Jaimi Cabrera
at 513.233.4762.
Until thenconsider giving the butterfly net idea a try!
It really works!
References:
Using Mindfulness to Approach Chronic Pain
Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.
http://psychcentral.com/lib/using-mindfulness-to-approach-chronic-pain/
Promoting Prosocial Behavior and Self-Regulatory Skills in Preschool Children
Through a Mindfulness-Based Kindness Curriculum
University of Wisconsin-Madison
http://centerhealthyminds.org/assets/files-publications/
FlookPromotingDevPsych.pdf

Looking ahead at the

schools calendar year, the
initiative will include weekly
classroom lessons, three
school-wide assemblies,
six special family night
events, three strengthbased discussions held in
conjunction with parent

CONNECTIONS | 7

PAID

GROWING GREAT

FAMILIES

TOGETHER

6881 beechmont avenue cincinnati, ohio 45230

p 513.231.6630 | beechacres.org

2016 Fill-a-Backpack Update:

Because of YOUR
generosity, 400
local students
started the school
year off fully
equipped for class!

THANK
YOU!!