Illawarra Sports High school counsellor Robyn Zelvis has won a NSW Premier’s Teacher Scholarship to travel overseas and study adolescent depression.
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Ms Zelvis, was last week awarded the Anika Foundation Youth Depression Awareness scholarship, worth $15,000 which she plans to use to study mindfulness programs in schools in New Zealand, the Netherlands, UK and Canada.
“I want to look into mindfulness as a way to develop resilience and social and emotional learning in young people because that helps to treat depression, but also to prevent depression,” Ms Zelvis said.
“Mindfulness is about teaching young people how to be open and aware of the present moment as it unfolds, and be in tune with your thoughts and feelings and sit with them rather than fighting against them or trying to ignore them, because inevitably they always come back.”
Ms Zelvis, who is currently in a relieving role at Dapto High School, said 330 teachers had applied for the scholarships, with just 21 awarded. Smith’s Hill High School HSIE teacher Jonathon Dallimore, was also awarded a NSW History Teacher’s Association Prermier’s Teacher Scholarship, which he will use to undertake study in Russia. Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said the scholarships gave teachers the chance to increase their depth of knowledge.