What If Schools Taught Kids to Love Themselves First?

Evelyn Reed · 2026-09-09

What if the most important thing we could teach kids had nothing to do with math or reading? That's the question Janice Martellucci has been quietly answering for years. As Executive Director of Peace in Schools, she's spent her career helping educators see something most of us overlook: kids can't learn if they don't know how to meet themselves. I sat down with Janice to talk about what happens when mindfulness stops being a buzzword and becomes part of the actual school day. Her answers stuck with me long after we hung up. ### Mindfulness Isn't a Trend. It's a Skill. When people hear "mindfulness in schools," they picture kids sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, maybe some calming music. Janice laughs at that image. Real mindfulness training, she says, is far more practical. It's about giving students tools to notice what's happening inside them before it takes over. Think of it like this: a teenager feels a wave of anger rising in third period. Without skills, that wave becomes a fight, a walkout, or a shutdown. With mindfulness, it becomes information. They learn to name it. Sit with it. Choose what happens next. That's not woo-woo. That's emotional literacy. And it's teachable. ### The Science Behind the Calm Janice is quick to point out that Peace in Schools doesn't run on good vibes alone. Their curriculum is evidence-based, which means it's been studied, tested, and refined. Schools that adopt it see measurable shifts: - Fewer disciplinary referrals and classroom disruptions - Lower reported stress and anxiety among students - Better focus and attention during instruction - Stronger relationships between students and teachers - Improved emotional regulation that carries into home life "We're not asking teachers to become therapists," Janice told me. "We're giving them a framework that fits into the school day without adding another thing to their plate." That distinction matters. Teachers are already stretched thin. The last thing they need is one more initiative. What they need is something that makes the rest of their job easier. ### Meeting Kids Where They Already Are Here's the part that really got me. Janice described sitting with a group of high schoolers after a session. One student said something like, "I didn't know I was allowed to feel this way." Allowed. Think about that word. So many kids walk through school believing their inner world is a problem to manage, not a place to explore. Mindfulness flips that. It says: you're not broken. You're human. And being human is workable. > "We're not fixing kids," Janice said. "We're reminding them they were never broken to begin with." That reframe changes everything. It shifts the goal from behavior management to wholeness. From compliance to connection. ### What This Means for the Rest of Us You don't have to work in a school to feel the ripple. If kids learn to meet themselves with curiosity instead of judgment, they grow into adults who do the same. That's a different workplace. A different family. A different world. Janice isn't naive about the challenges. Budgets are tight. Schedules are packed. Some administrators still need convincing. But she's seen too many classrooms transform to believe it's optional anymore. "The kids are asking for this," she said. "We just have to listen." Maybe that's the real lesson. Not that mindfulness is nice to have. But that it's how we finally start treating young people like whole humans instead of test scores with backpacks. And honestly? That's a curriculum worth fighting for.