More than 150 educators, administrators and community health advocates gathered at Brooklyn Borough Hall on June 8 for the 2016 Excellence in School Wellness Award ceremony. More than 50 schools throughout the city were honored for educators’ work promoting health and wellness, including mental and emotional health. Students with award-winning posters on the theme of wellness were also on hand with their teachers and parents to show their art. For the first time, the event was co-sponsored by the Department of Education, which organized the poster contest for students of all grades, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who addressed the group, revealed that he was recently diagnosed with diabetes despite regular exercise and stressed how important it is for students to develop healthy habits at an early age. Among those schools honored with a platinum award for innovative work was the Brooklyn Arbor School in Williamsburg. Beth Reed, the wellness teacher at the school, said students look forward to her weekly class. She said she teaches mindfulness and yoga and incorporates lessons from the school’s edible garden, where students grow vegetables to use in their nutrition and cooking classes. “I saw a need for our students to be healthy and well and ready to learn, and going from seed to table involves children in the whole process,” Reed said. 

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