Education United States Project #24642

Teach Meditation to 25 Low-Income Urban Students

by The David Lynch Foundation

Teach Meditation to 25 Low-Income Urban Students

Project Report | Oct 2, 2017
You helped Low-Income Students Learn to Meditate!

By Wesley Lyons | Philanthropy and Events Coordinator

The David Lynch Foundation’s Quiet Time program has started yet another successful school year! Since April, your generous support has helped teach TM and provide follow-up support to the students at the Brooklyn Urban Garden School (BUGS), the Bronx High School for Law and Community Service, and other underserved schools across the country including a pilot program at John Adams High School.

The pilot program at John Adams High School, launched in the third quarter, continued with 30 students meditating once a day in their second period health class. Support is provided in school for a second meditation to take place either in the school’s meditation room or at home. All students kept a daily journal noting meditation times and experiences. A year-end review of survey information and journals revealed that 80% of students were meditating outside of school.

At the Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School (BUGS), Quiet Time leaders launched an end-of-the-year trip incentive for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Students who scored a behavior grade of 85% and Quiet Time score of meditating 85% of the time were eligible to attend the trip – 100% of students who meditate met the requirements and enjoyed a day at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The Bronx High School for Law and Community Service completed the school year with a record-high graduation rate. Graduation rates have increased by almost 13 percentage points since the full-school implementation of Quiet Time in the 2015-16 school year (graduation rates: 71.5% in 2015, 78.5% in 2016, and 84.3% in 2017). In the fourth quarter, 262 students had their meditation personally checked and seven new transfer students were instructed. All 19 of the morning classes of Quiet Time participated in a bracket-style, five-week tournament to boost engagement in TM practice. Classes competed each week to receive the highest meditation behavior grades (i.e., meditating sitting up with eyes closed) and the class with the highest scores won a pizza party and moved on to the next round. All classes showed an increase in participation in meditation during the period of competition, and while participation dropped off after the competition was complete, scores remained higher than those prior to the competition. DLF plans to continue similar competitions in Fiscal 2018 to inspire and boost student participation and enthusiasm for meditation.

Thank you so much for helping to make all of this possible! Without your support, underserved students around the country suffering from toxic stress and trauma would have nowhere to turn. Now, with Quiet Time, students are able to find peace, concentration, and focus. This helps them stay in school, avoid disciplinary action, and focus on academic achievement. Thank you!

Permalink

Apr 28, 2017
You helped Low-Income Students Learn to Meditate!

By Anna Langdell | Director of Individual Giving

The David Lynch Foundation’s Quiet Time program is almost finished with yet another successful school year! Since September, your generous support has helped teach TM and provide follow-up support to the students at the Brooklyn Urban Garden School (BUGS), the Bronx High School for Law and Community Service, and other underserved schools across the country.

A testimonial from one teacher at BUGS: “I saw significant transformation in several of my most challenging students. At the start of the year, simple feedback from me would make the students very agitated. Now, they are able to handle redirection much better and will respond positively the first time. I really attribute these changes to Transcendental Meditation.” Part of these changes are thanks to you and your continued support of Quiet Time – thank you!

Students are experiencing incredible changes after participating in the Quiet Time program during this school year:

“I meditate to find peace within and I don’t want a failing grade for the marking period. Meditation helps me with that.”
“Meditation helps me get through the school day without stressing about it. It also keeps me calm and focused. I have also noticed that after using Meditation my grades have gone up rapidly, making me eligible for honor roll three times.”
“I find myself being more mature about situations that used to bother me before I started meditating.”
“Meditation helps me focus more and it helps me maintain a calm attitude for the day. I also meditate because it calms me down when I’m upset, it actually relaxes me. It also keeps me focused on my school work. I’m improving a lot in my classes.”

Links:

Video: Implementing Quiet Time at Bronx High School

Permalink

Feb 2, 2017
You helped Low-Income Students Learn to Meditate!

By Anna Langdell | Director of Individual Giving

The David Lynch Foundation’s Quiet Time program is half-way through the 2016-2017 school year with help from your generous donations! Since September, your support has raised funds that help us teach TM and provide follow-up support to the students at the Brooklyn Urban Garden School (BUGS).

Within the last month, a new club has been organized at BUGS called the Quiet Time Crew. It was started by a 6th grader named Ricky who learned TM at the beginning of the school year. They’ve already got three meetings under their belt! Ricky had a history of skipping class at his previous school when he felt anxious. He left school once at the beginning of this year but has not done so since learning how to meditate. This is partly in thanks to you and your continued support of Quiet Time!

A new study of the David Lynch Foundation’s Quiet Time program shows a decrease in anger, anxiety, depression, and fatigue for first year students participating in Quiet Time. We are working hard to rigorously demonstrate that this simple and cost-effective program can improve the long-term life chances of America's most disadvantaged youth. Quiet Time presents an incredibly exciting, scalable opportunity for the future of youth programming.

The David Lynch Foundation continues to expand, bringing TM to more schools and cities through new partnerships reaching hundreds of thousands in need. In the past year, we began a successful program with the University of Chicago Crime Lab to provide solutions for students in high-crime communities, which will expand in this and future years. Meditation provides a renewable spring of peace, clarity, and self-empowerment. In the words of a student from a NY area school: “Meditation helps me focus more and it helps me maintain a calm attitude for the day. I mediate because it calms me down when I’m upset. [TM] keeps me focused on my school work and I’m improving a lot more in class than before.”

Thank you for helping to make all of this possible!

Links:

Learn more about the work we do at our website!

Permalink

1 2 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.