Peter Amato

Pathway to peace seeks business/corporate sponsors for meditation in classroom project

PRWEB Press Release: Schools throughout the country have signed on to implement a meditation in the classroom program through Peter Amato’s Pathway to Peace movement and are in dire need of sponsors to help fund the program. Applications from inner city districts, private academies, as well as charter, rural and public schools – elementary, intermediate and secondary – demonstrate enthusiasm and a pressing need for proven methods to help children reduce stress in their lives.

As one District of Columbia high school teacher entering the competition wrote, “Our students have witnessed murder, dropped out, fought, sold and ingested drugs before and after school. The communities that the students come from are downright scary and when they walk in the door they bring all that with them. The underlying truth is that until we help students with the stress of their home lives, we are simply masking the problems. A large portion of our students do not know how to resolve stress…they need quiet time built into the schedule for meditation.”

Through his global mind-body movement, Pathway To Peace, Meditation Master Amato launched a nationwide search for schools that are interested in starting a meditation program as well as those who want to compete to receive the program training free. Amato is willing to take on five schools, providing free materials and training to teachers at five deserving schools.

He issued a challenge to the nation’s businesses, corporations and community organizations to join him by sponsoring meditation programs in their local school systems. Sponsors are needed to assist with funding the training and materials needed to make the program happen. States seeking sponsors to date include Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Florida, Connecticut, Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado, South Carolina, New York and Ohio, with more expected. Parents and teachers can show support as well by getting their school on board, sharing ideas and seeking sponsorships.

Interested schools were asked to either enter a competition to be selected for free training or to enroll with the goal of finding or being paired with a sponsor to fund the program. The competition ends September 30, 2013, with five schools being selected in October based on the essays or videos submitted detailing the reasons they feel they should be chosen.

Meditation is a proven method to aid kids in reducing stress, avoiding self destructive activities, and finding inner peace that is not being employed to great extent. Amato developed and implemented a meditation in the classroom pilot program under a U.S. Department of Education grant in the Scranton (Pennsylvania) School that included a qualitative research methodology to measure the attributes and benefits of the program as well as a qualitative case study methodology to develop a mixed method research approach.

Edutopia.org reports that as of 2012 only 91 schools in 13 states are implementing meditation in the classroom. Results from these controlled trials in elementary and high schools showed a 38% decrease in suspension days and 25% fewer class absences among high school students. Students in grades one through seven practicing mindfulness meditation achieved significantly improved scores on validated attention-skills tests, while students in grades four through seven demonstrated an 8% reduction in aggressive behavior.

In response to the rash of school shootings that seem to occur on an almost regular basis on campuses across the country, “the time has arrived to re-evaluate and reconsider introducing meditation in the schools,” said Amato. “While meditation has been practiced for hundreds of years, and its benefits widely recognized, it has not become mainstream enough to be utilized as a coping tool.”

According to Amato, integrative medicine pioneer, author and certified meditation and yoga master, meditation programs in schools have proven to help children’s attentiveness become keen, diminish the illusion of fear and anxiety, heighten self-esteem, reduce anger and jealousy, resulting in healthy communication and socialization skills and peace of mind.

Another school seeking a sponsor to bring meditation to its students said, “We have a high poverty level with the majority of the students being raised in single parent homes. They are faced with a great deal of stress because they face many adult situations. We service a great group of kids who could benefit from being given the tools to overcome and solve conflicts. This program will empower out students to change their lives as well as the lives of others.”

The goal, and the hope, according to all involved, is to have the Meditation in the Classroom Program become a national collaboration, spreading throughout communities and corporate America so that students from every school in the country have the opportunity to benefit from meditative practices.

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U.S. schools begin enrolling in Peter Amato’s meditation in classrooms competition

PRWeb: “I am pleased and excited to report that schools throughout the country are beginning to enroll and compete for an opportunity to bring meditation to their classrooms to reduce stress and increase morale and socialization,” announced Peter Amato, meditation master and doctoral candidate in mind-body medicine.

Through his global mind-body movement, Pathway To Peace, Amato launched a nationwide search for schools that are interested in starting a meditation program as well as those who want to compete to receive the program training free. Schools that wish to compete are required to submit an essay or video to the website, https://www.pathwaytopeace.org, explaining why…

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Meditation Expert Peter Amato announced competition for meditation in schools training

PRWeb Press Release: Meditation Master Peter Amato has announced he will bring a meditation program to five deserving schools throughout the country, a $250,000 value in training and materials.

By making meditation a regular part of the school day, Amato said, young children and teens will be given the tools to reduce stress in their lives, and cope with competition, peer pressure, bullying and the violence all around them. “Key research findings in pilot and current school meditation programs included increases in calm in the classroom, increased attentiveness, increase in a desire to learn along with a strong retention span, and an increase in morale and socialization. Overall, teachers saw a sizeable increase in emotional balance with less behavioral issues and acting out.”

Amato launched a nationwide search for five schools that are interested in starting a meditation program and want to compete to receive the program training free. He is also seeking interested schools to participate on their own as well as individuals, businesses and major corporations to sponsor the program in their communities. The contest ends September 30, 2013. Five winners will be selected by an appointed committee from all eligible entries during the month of October 2013.

To enter the competition, students, teachers, parents or administrators must submit a 200-word essay or three-minute video on why they deserve to be selected.

Amato is challenging private enterprise to join in and sponsor a school so teachers can be trained to give children a proven tool to help shift the future. “The goal, and the hope, is to have this collaboration become infectious, spreading throughout communities and corporate America so that students from every school in the country, whether public or private, inner city or rural, have the opportunity to benefit from meditative practices.”

Amato is the author of the book “Soul Silence” which explores one’s relationship to prayer and meditation, as well as numerous articles on mindfulness. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in mind-body medicine at Saybrook University. A student of many global healing systems, Peter is an in-demand speaker who has motivated audiences across the world.

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Peter Amato urges educators to introduce meditation practices to benefit students in many ways

Digital Journal: There is no denying that children today are faced with cumbersome challenges. Fierce competition. Social media pressure. Bullying. Ever-changing technology. Rampant violence. And so much more never imagined years ago.

School districts and private schools across the country offer a variety of tools to make learning easier and help children cope with the world around them. Yet there is a proven method to aid kids in reducing stress, avoiding self destructive activities, and finding inner peace that is not being employed to great extent. Meditation.

In the wake of the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary and the shootings…

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