Pleasant Hills Middle School DAN COMO, PRINCIPAL
JuJu and Jaguars: The Importance of Being Mindful
T
he CHILL Room Project at Pleasant Hills Middle School
was awarded a $38,000 grant from Pittsburgh Steelers
Wide Receiver, JuJu Smith-Schuster to continue the
work that Allegheny Health Network and Dr. Will
Davies are doing to support mindfulness and mental health
initiatives with the CHILL Project. JuJu is a huge proponent of
the CHILL Project and uses mindfulness strategies himself to
work through difficult situations on and off the football field.
The CHILL Room at the middle school facilitates learning on
a variety of topics including core mindfulness, relaxed deep
breathing, self-esteem and problem solving. Last month,
124 sixth grade students attended a Mindfulness field trip to
Schenley Plaza in Oakland, hosted by HeadSpace, a leading app
developer related to Mindfulness, Carnegie Mellon University
and the University of Pittsburgh. The founder of Headspace,
Andy Puddicombe, visited the middle school to meet with our
students prior to the field trip to see all that the CHILL Room
offers.
We thank JuJu Smith-Schuster for the generous monetary
award, his commitment to local schools and youth programs,
and for educating our students about the importance of
managing their emotional and mental health.
A Tribute to the Troops
O
n Monday, November 11, the Pleasant Hills
Middle School hosted its first “Tribute to the
Troops” that included a Veterans Day Breakfast
and Warrior Walk with over fifty veterans in
attendance. The event honored veterans and their guests,
including our very own PHMS students who invited them.
It was a wonderful way to honor their years of service and
express our gratitude for their dedication. Throughout
breakfast, Veterans were treated to superb performances
of patriotic music performed by our honors band and
orchestra quartet. Veterans were also honored by patriotic
poems read by student council officers and staff members.
40 WEST JEFFERSON HILLS
The event concluded with a Warrior Walk throughout
the hallways of the middle school. Veterans paraded
through the school and were enthusiastically greeted by
every student and staff member in the building, proudly
displaying their red, white, and blue. Students created
patriotic signs which they held up and showed their
appreciation by clapping, shaking hands, and cheering for
our warriors. Special thanks to the Tribute to the Troops
Committee members for helping organize this event,
along with Mr. Cenna and Mr. Belich and their students for
performing, and everyone who helped to make this event a
memorable day for our local Veterans!