Creative Strategies for Staying Centered at School
Professional Development at Alliance High School, East LA
In March, Upward Together is honored to lead a professional development session at Alliance High School in East Los Angeles focused on one essential question:
How do we stay centered while supporting others all day long?
Teaching is relational work. It asks for emotional presence, flexibility, and steady energy—often in fast-moving environments. Our session, Creative Strategies for Staying Centered at School, offers practical tools educators can use immediately to regulate stress and cultivate calm within the classroom.
Pause as Practice
At the heart of this workshop is a simple concept: pause as practice.
A pause is not a luxury. It is a regulation strategy.
When we pause—even briefly—we give the nervous system space to recalibrate. That small moment can shift how we respond to stress, student behavior, or high-pressure moments.
The Four Anchors
Our session centers around four accessible tools educators can integrate into their daily rhythm:
Breath
Structured breathing patterns that can be practiced between transitions, before difficult conversations, or alongside students.
Body
Micro-grounding techniques—feet pressing into the floor, shoulder release, posture awareness—that return attention to the present moment.
Environment
Using space intentionally: lighting, desk arrangement, and sensory awareness to create steadiness in the classroom.
Creativity
Simple art-based practices that help release stress and build connection. Creativity invites reflection without performance—it shifts energy from reaction to expression.
Supporting Sustainable Classrooms
When educators have tools for self-regulation, classrooms shift.
Students feel it. Transitions soften. Conversations become more intentional.
This session is not about adding more to educators’ plates. It’s about offering small, repeatable practices that sustain energy across the school year.
In Gratitude
This work is made possible through Creative Wellbeing (CW)—a strategic collaboration dedicated to bringing healing-centered arts practices into our systems and shifting culture toward collective wellbeing.
Creative Wellbeing is supported by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, Office of Child Protection, Department of Mental Health, Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Justice, Care and Opportunities, and the Arts for Healing and Justice Network, as part of the LA County Arts Education Collective advancing the Regional Blueprint for Arts Education.
We are deeply grateful for this partnership and for the opportunity to support educators at Alliance High School.
At Upward Together, we believe calm is contagious.
When adults practice presence, students learn presence.
When we pause, we build resilience—together.
