After such a challenging end to the school year, MLP spent the summer connecting with our communities, ensuring they had supportive resources available to them as they navigate these unprecedented times. Our leadership team expanded and we welcomed new teammates into new roles in the areas of programs, marketing and finance. We are also excited to announce the promotion of several MLP Instructors into the roles of Program Manager and Hip Hop Coordinator. In these unusual times, we are excited to see the expansion of our team and know that with this expansion we will be able to effectively serve more students and communities in a deeper, impactful and intentional way.
On August 17th, MLP welcomed back it’s whole team and we couldn’t be happier to have everyone back! This school year MLP has 86% of its staff returning while also expanding our direct services from 22 underserved schools to 25 schools across 9 cities in the Bay Area. As we wrap up our third week of staff training, our staff are feeling excited and eager to start their virtual Mindful Community classes with their schools, with Rise Up small groups projected to start at the end of September/early October. Our MLP Instructor training this year was the best yet, with partnerships from Holistic Life in Baltimore, MD leading our virtual all day staff retreat and Alice Chen from Wayfinding Wisdom guiding us on our strengths, and how we communicate and collaborate more effectively. We are so lucky to have amazing champions in this work that we can call upon to partner with to help us build on the already amazing skill sets of our team!
Looking ahead into the 2020-2021 school year we know there are more obstacles to overcome and want to make sure our partners and families feel equipped to take on the challenges that may arise. Whether it’s through continued remote learning or creating plans for reintegration back into the classroom, MLP will continue to support our schools and communities. We’ve listened to our school partners and families and at each school we will be promoting our parent/family mindfulness once a week in English and Spanish as well as Teacher mindfulness once a week for personal wellbeing. In a time of so much uncertainty, we want to ensure they know we are a partner in their community they can rely on.
Check back here weekly to hear about our programs, our communities and our partnerships!