Can You Name at least 3 Parts of the Brain?

After this week, our Scholars sure can! They could tell you all about the

Prefrontal Cortex

Which is the front part of your brain (where most of your actual thinking happens) and is responsible for decision-making. The Left Prefrontal Cortex also contains our positive thinking.

Scholars drew the different parts of the brain on swim caps, to help them visualize where the parts are located.

We know they will remember the

Hippocampus

Which is in the middle, and is responsible for forming, storing, and retrieving memories. The Scholars used the idea of a USB flash drive, which stores a lot of our important technological information these days, to help them remember the Hippocampus.

And if you ask them about the 

Amygdala

They will get very excited and shout "AMYGDALA!" for you, since they learned that the Amygdala is responsible for directing information to either the Thinking or Survival parts of our brain (Example, if your Amygdala receives information that you are being chased by a tiger, it will send that information to the brain stem which will cause your body to react in a "let's get out of here!" manner).

This information about the brain is going to become very important as the Leaders introduce the idea of Neuroplasticity to their Scholars throughout this school year.

Neuroplasticity is the idea that our brain is changeable; if we want to become better at math, english, sports, etc. we need to exercise the parts of our brain responsible for those activities, and then we will become better.

5 Reasons Why You Should Add Gratitude to Your Daily Routine

Gratitude is being conscious of something positive that you have received or are experiencing.  Research has shown that practicing gratitude can help to improve:

1. Mental Health: “We can preclude the possibility of going into a state of anxiety or depression by engaging in a daily gratitude practice, an experience that automatically adds ‘positive energetic return’ to our brain’s ongoing tally of energetic losses and gains.” Peggy La Cerrera

Making Gratitude bracelets to serve as a daily reminder to be grateful

2. Physical Health: Practicing gratitude has been shown to decrease stress hormones. Less stress hormones mean a healthier, happier body.

3. Academic Performance: It has been shown that students who practiced gratitude reported higher levels of satisfaction with school—they feel good at school, eager to go to school, think they are learning a lot, and find school interesting (Huebner, Drane, & Valois, 2000)

4. Desire to contribute to society: One study found gratitude in adolescents contributes to the “desire to give back to their neighborhood, community, and world” (Froh, Bono, Emmons, 2010)

Writing in Gratitude Journals--another way to practice gratitude!

5. Healthy Relationships: Two studies found that gratitude related to quality of relationships, compassion, generosity, and empathy (McCollough et al, 2002; Wood et al., 2010)

All Sources listed here: http://leadershipscholars.org/gratitude.php

4 Inspiring and Mindful Leaders

These four people are well known all over the world for some pretty amazing achievements. Did you know that they practice meditation daily?

1. Oprah, TV personality

Oprah spent one of her shows filming at a school in Iowa where meditation is a part of the daily lessons.  After her session of meditation during that show, she said "I walked away feeling fuller than when I came in, full of hope and a sense of contentment and deep joy, knowing for sure that in the craziness of the world that seems to bombard us at every angle, there is always the consistency of stillness."

Source: An Unusual Town

2. Phil Jackson, NBA Coach

This former coach to the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers and winner of 11 NBA Titles would have his team spend time in meditation every morning before practice. “But for some of the Lakers, this meditation practice has become momentous. Derek Fisher says he gets a lot out of it. Lamar Odom re-creates aspects of it in his mind as he walks to the free throw line. Pau Gasol, according to Cleamons, is enthusiastic. During many timeouts, instead of talking to the team, Jackson will instruct them to reenact the meditation session by sitting together on the sideline to "share a breath."” 

Source: ESPN.com

3. Albert Einstein, Scientist

Physicist Albert Einstein, who is well known for his Theory of Relativity, has been quoted as saying “The really valuable thing is intuition. Through meditation I found answers before I even asked the question.”

Source: Life Lessons from Einstein

4. Tiger Woods, Professional Athlete

Golf is a sport that takes a lot of focus and concentration. Tiger Woods uses meditation to help himself to be “more centered, more balanced.”

Source: Tiger Woods Meditates

The 5 W's of Wellness

Class 5 Leader Morgan demonstrates one of the key components of wellness: Exercise

What is Wellness?

According to the dictionary, "Wellness is the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort." That means it takes a little bit of work, but your body and mind will thank you for it!

When should I practice it?

There are three main components to wellness that Leadership Scholars will focus on this school year:  Nutrition, Exercise, and Sleep. Each of these aspects in your life will require effort in order to make sure you are going about them in a healthy way.

Why is it important?

Paying attention to what you eat, as well as making sure you get enough sleep and exercise will have positive results on your physical and mental health. This of course will help you to have better focus in school and can contribute to greater academic success.

Who needs to pay attention to it?

Wellness will be an important part of our Team Meeting curriculum this year, so our Leaders and Scholars will become experts, and we know that they will be excited to share the information with their family and friends. Wellness is important for everyone!

Where can I find more information?

All of the research we have compiled on wellness can be found on our website, along with the sources. Go here!

3 Tips for a Mindful Start to the School Year

It's that time of year again! Students are dusting off their backpacks and heading off to another year of learning. Our Team Meetings won't begin officially until mid-September, but we wanted to join in on the back-to-school excitement with some tips to help make your school year a success!

1. Eat breakfast. Studies have shown that eating breakfast every day will set you up for a healthy start to your day. If you don't eat breakfast, you may miss out on those important vitamins and instead snack on sugar and empty calories that are not good for you.

Source: 5 reasons why you should eat breakfast

2. Meditate daily, and keep up with your Gratitude Journals. This especially applies to our Leaders and Scholars who went through the Summer Program! You already learned that it can help bring your focus to get you ready for the day, and that it can help you relax during a time when you are feeling anxiety. Now that school has started, don't quit that routine you started over the summer!

Leaders practicing meditation at Leader Training in early August

3. Get plenty of sleep. Ever wonder why you go to bed at a decent hour, but still wake up feeling un-rested? That is because you are waking yourself up in the middle of a sleep cycle. If you wake up in between sleep cycles, you won't feel groggy. Click on the picture below to go to a website where you can calculate what time you should go to bed depending on when you want to wake up in the morning.

Bedtime Calculator: http://sleepyti.me/ 

Leader Training

Seniors and Juniors involved in the Leadership Scholars program gathered on August 11 at St. Vincent De Paul’s West End location to attend a Leader training for the up-coming school year. These Leaders come from Seton, Elder, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Summit Country Day, Purcell Marian, and Roger Bacon, and they commit to working with seventh and eighth grade students (Scholars) from nine elementary schools around the city for one hour per week during the school year. 

Leaders excited to show off their new Leadership Scholars tee's!

The training for the Leaders involved sessions on the updated curriculum that is being developed by Dr. Suzie White, a recent doctoral graduate from New York University. Dr. White’s dissertation centered around how low-income students make the decision to go to college. In her research, she found that the students who went to college explained they made the decision to attend college because someone who “knew” them told them in a one-on-one conversation they should go to college. The students describe “feeling known,” or that the adult “gets” them when they are able to express their thoughts and feelings to that person. 

Leaders take time to write in their new Gratitude journals, something they will continue to do and encourage their Scholars to do throughout the school year

This school year, the Leaders will work with their Scholars in curriculum that is based on Dr. White’s findings, as well as other research that suggests methods for success in school. One of those methods is increasing mindfulness in students by learning about mindset and neuroplasticity (the idea that intelligence is changeable). The Leaders will meditate with their Scholars each week which has been shown to help students increase their focus in school. They will also work with their Scholars on the importance of eating healthy, and practicing gratitude.

Creating Gratitude bracelets to remind themselves daily of the things they have to be thankful for!