Southern Indiana Business March-April 2020 | Page 13

Shelley McDonald, director of Indiana Programs at the Center for Women and Families in New Albany, left, and Zenobia Law, supervisor of Indiana
Programs, discuss the ways in which they’ve implemented self-care into the work culture of the office.
“We believe that in order to
be the best for our students,
we have to be mindful of our
own social, emotional and
physical well-being for our
staff ... to help them in a very
stressful environment to
de-stress so they can better
support our students”
— Superintendent Tina Bennett, Clarksville
Community School Corp.
best for our students, we have
to be mindful of our own
social, emotional and physical
well-being for our staff,”
Superintendent Tina Bennett
said. “So the thought process
was to provide opportunities ...
to help them in a very stressful
environment to de-stress so they
can better support our students.”
The school corporation
also recently has opened a
wellness studio for staff within
Renaissance Academy. All staff
are free to visit the studio and
twice a week, a wellness coach
leads them through yoga and
general fitness. Bennett said she’s
seen a big push toward this kind
of thinking with educators across
the state and nation.
“I think it has a lot to do with
all of the challenging issues in the
education space that teachers and
schools are faced with in regard
to helping our students that
come from oftentimes traumatic
backgrounds,” she said, adding
that a lot of it has to do with the
fallout from the opioid crisis.
“We see it every day,” she said.
“We have a lot of students that
can benefit from us being mindful
[and] providing social, emotional
learning opportunities.”
At the Center for Women and
Families, supervisor Law said the
wellness approach is a fantastic
way to invest in staff.
“It not only makes for better
workplace culture, it really does
enhance productivity,” she said.
“People are more energized and
ready to do their job and do it
well because they’ve been able to
relax and take care of themselves;
they’re ready to come back and
take care of business.”
March / April 2020
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