Kelley Warren

One year, we had a number of students who were struggling with behaviors. This group of 25 students made up the majority of our school’s office referrals, suspensions, and classroom disruptions. We believed at the time that we had tried everything (and nothing worked). The consequences were not effective at changing the behaviors. Students were coming back from suspensions with worse behaviors than when they had left. We decided to try anything and everything possible. After running into a friend who was a former professional mixed martial arts fighter, we decided to start a morning martial arts intervention. We taught self-control, respect, being a part of a team, dealing with stress and negative emotions, taking responsibility for one’s choices, integrity, relaxation, and mindfulness. This intervention was extremely effective at improving attitudes and achievement. Within 4-6 weeks, the majority of negative behaviors and attitudes went away. Participants became model students and eventually school leaders. Many schools and districts reached out to learn more about this intervention (as word traveled fast). I told these other schools that I think the secret to our success was mostly as a result of attention given by trusted adults, positive interactions, teaching specific self-regulation skills, having a place to talk through challenging situations, and building a family. You can do this without a martial arts program, it could be just about anything. The important lesson was not WHAT we did, it was WHY we were doing it. Sometimes the more out of the box the thinking - the better! Thank you to Steve Berger and then Susie Wyatt for making this intervention a reality! We had some great times working together to help kids! Join the “Maslow Before Bloom” group: facebook.com/groups/maslowbe… #maslowbeforebloom