Educators in New Jersey acknowledge concerning daily levels moderate and high stress, due in part to the stress of constant change, a lack of autonomy, challenging students, and a lack of work/ life balance. Let's pull together for one week to improve our individual and collective wellness.

What: Educator Wellness Week embarks on our first organized effort to raise awareness and stimulate action toward greater organizational health and faculty wellness throughout the state. We launch our five- day fun competition to bring educators together in their small and larger communities.

How: Webinars, competitions, educational material, goal planning, and research, conducted over the course of one week. This virtual event may ultimately find a home within an existing conference but for the time being will be actionable within each county, district, school, and community that subscribe.

Why: Educators are the second least healthy profession nationally, although research in this area is sorely lacking. Stress is correlated with several challenges educators face, which in turn adversely impacts school culture, the degree to which we don’t fully understand. This week- long challenge will further our understanding of the link between stress, wellness, and student achievement.

Who: Educators in New Jersey k-12 public and private school districts ranging from administrators to custodial staff. There will likely be some counties that embrace this opportunity more than others, but the goal is engagement of all 678 districts throughout the 21 counties throughout the state. New Jersey may ultimately serve as a model for other states.

When: May 21^st to May 25^th 2018