Inner Residence Program Analysis

The program we are evaluating is called the Inner Residence Program. Created after the events that took place during the attacks on September 11th, the program was put in place to help students and teachers that were impacted. Soon after, educators and mental health experts put together a social and emotional learning program to help these individuals. The program’s aim is to teach the teachers skills of mindfulness and resilience, to then bring into their own lives, and to teach these educators how to balance their personal and professional lives. Inner Resilience has many core platforms, ranging from residential retreats, professional workshops, inner life series, parent workshops and a set K-8 curriculum for teachers. Though the curriculum …show more content…
A strong majority of participants, 89% from the South Burlington evaluation, reported that the program itself made them see specific and noticeable changes in their personal life. These changes benefited their personal well being. They expressed that they are now able to use the mindfulness tools they learned from the program to calm them down when they are stressed and now know how to deal with stressful situations in a more mindful way. Even more participants noticed positive benefits from the program that helped their professional lives. They have seen changes in their students and the way their classroom management has improved from these mindful skills. 80% of participants believed that there were also significant changes in their students from bringing the new skills into the classroom. For example, the students were able to calm themselves in times of stress, and there was a visible increase in happiness throughout the classroom. These students appeared more relaxed and focused post mindfulness activity in their …show more content…
The participants said that they the programs help led to some benefits that they were not expecting, for example, feeling more calm and much more confident than they used to. They also specified in their interviews that they were able to realize the actual changes they have made in their personal lives, for example most of them had an increased awareness for their own self care. In their professional lives it was stated that they felt as if they developed more tools and techniques to use in their classrooms, and found ways to positively deal with negative