About the Speaker: Milly Chacko

A former Special Education teacher with 15 years experience working with children of all ages and all abilities. I passionately believe children are more than a diagnosis or a numerical measure based on standardized tests. While teaching, I pursued a course of study in yoga and mindfulness. This garnered me a 200-hour certified yoga teacher license and a certification as a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher. Using what I have learned through my own experiences and my studies, I have developed programs in mindfulness for teachers and other adults, ran a nonprofit program bringing yoga to women in need, learned and applied trauma informed mindfulness practices to middle school students, and am currently piloting a new class in my elementary school of my own creation. My class focuses on social emotional skills for students in grades PreK through 5th using a social emotional curriculum as well as incorporating the mindfulness concepts I have learned in my course of study. I believe in a heart-based approach to total wellness, where the mind, body, and spirit are genuinely cared for and understood. When all the parts of us are healthy and cared for, it leads to success-and more importantly, happiness within that success.