Fifth grade students in Juanita Hyer’s classroom start their day at Christel House Academy South with mindfulness meditation – and it makes a difference. “We have students come to us with a plethora of different life experiences,” says Hyer. “Meditation offers coping skills for life stressors such as anxiety or anger or even being scared.” Students were receptive to meditation from the very beginning because of their teacher’s passion for it. She sees long-term benefits for her students. “They can build those coping skills to handle things when they are in my classroom and when they move on in the future.”