Elizabeth A. Harris, The New York Times: On the first day of the new school year, the schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, stood in an elementary school classroom in Queens beaming at a hushed room full of fourth-grade children sitting cross-legged on the floor.
“Please let your eyes close,” said a small boy named Davinder, from his spot on the linoleum.
Davinder gently struck a shallow bronze bowl.
Gong!
“Take three mindful breaths,” he said, and the room fell silent.
“Do you do personal visits?” Ms. Fariña asked after the exercise was over. “Like to offices?”
In schools in New York City and in pockets …
