Here's something that might surprise you: when your kid learns to take "bubble breaths" and practices "heart confetti," they're not just having fun, they're building the emotional foundation that makes everything else possible. Including math, reading, and yes, even surviving middle school drama.

Meet Jessica Dunn, Westminster Elementary's Joy and Wellness Coordinator, who's basically proof that magic exists in public education. Her title might sound like corporate buzzwords, but what she actually does is revolutionary: she teaches kids the life skills that textbooks can't cover.

Forget everything you think you know about school counselors sitting in offices waiting for crisis calls. Jessica spends her days in classrooms teaching TK and kindergarteners how to handle big transitions, showing fifth-graders how to resolve conflicts without throwing hands, and introducing students to tools like her famous bracelet system.

Here's how it works: when kids use the emotional regulation skills Jessica teaches them: whether it's helping a classmate calm down or working through their own frustration: they earn a bracelet. But here's the beautiful part: earning the bracelet means they're now responsible for teaching those same skills to others. It's peer-to-peer emotional intelligence, and it's genius.

Then there's the "bubble breath" technique. Jessica explains it like this: "If you need a breath to breathe through something hard, while giving yourself some small joy? Dip, Blow, Look. Imagine all bubbles, your troubles, float away." Simple, concrete, and something a five-year-old can actually remember when they're melting down.

This isn't fluffy feel-good stuff. This is Jessica taking the abstract concept of "social-emotional learning" and making it as practical as learning to tie your shoes.

LAUSD serves more than 420,000 students, and according to district data summarized by WestEd, approximately 86% are classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged. Behind that number are hundreds of thousands of children navigating challenges such as housing instability, food insecurity, and the lasting effects of pandemic-era disruption—all of which directly impact their ability to show up and learn.

Chronic absenteeism continues to affect many LAUSD schools. The solution isn’t simply more academics, but stronger wellness and engagement supports that help students feel safe, regulated, and able to show up consistently.

Here's what the data shows: students who access school-based wellness services, especially mental health support, demonstrate significantly improved attendance rates. You literally cannot educate children who aren't present, and children can't be present when they're struggling with untreated anxiety, depression, or trauma.

Jessica's work addresses this head-on. When she helps a kindergartener learn coping skills for separation anxiety, that child is more likely to actually stay in class instead of calling home sick. When she teaches conflict resolution to older students, they're less likely to end up in the principal's office missing instructional time.

LAUSD's Strategic Plan: Pillar 2 sounds amazing on paper. The district committed to creating "safe, welcoming, and healthy school environments" with specific goals: 82% of students should feel safe at school by 2026, and 100% of schools should complete health and safety assessments.

They've made real investments too. LAUSD operates 20 wellness centers across campuses, serving nearly 55,000 patients in the 2023-24 school year alone. These aren't just nurse's offices: they're comprehensive healthcare facilities offering primary care, mental health services, and dental care.

But here's where it gets complicated. While the district has the vision and some programs in place, the funding and implementation of roles like Jessica's Joy and Wellness Coordinator position isn't consistent across schools. Some schools have coordinators, others don't. Some programs get robust support, others operate on shoestring budgets.

The result? A patchwork system where some kids get access to transformative wellness support (like the students at Westminster Elementary), while others are still stuck in schools running on an outdated “academics first, feelings later” approach - a model that science says just doesn’t work. After all, the prefrontal cortex (where we think, plan, and learn) can’t do its job until the amygdala (the brain’s alarm system), has a chance to calm down.

Let's be honest about what's standing in the way of scaling programs like Jessica's:

Funding Uncertainty: Many wellness initiatives depend on grants or special funding that can disappear year to year. Without dedicated, protected budget lines, positions like Joy and Wellness Coordinator become vulnerable when districts need to make cuts.

Training Gaps: Even when schools want to implement wellness programs, there's often insufficient training for staff. Jessica's approach works because she's developed it over years of experience, but new coordinators need systematic support and professional development.

Competing Priorities: Despite research showing that wellness directly supports academic achievement, many schools still feel pressured to put test prep and traditional academics first. But here’s the irony: you can’t boost those math scores without first tending to students’ well-being. The two are inseparable, like two sides of the same coin.

Implementation Challenges: Rolling out wellness programs requires physical space, scheduling flexibility, and buy-in from teachers who are already overwhelmed. It's not just about hiring coordinators: it's about restructuring how schools operate.

Here’s the thing: Jessica’s work doesn’t just help individual students - it can transform whole classroom communities. When kids learn emotional regulation skills, teachers spend less time managing behavior and more time actually teaching. Students feel safe and supported, so they take more academic risks and engage more deeply with learning.

One secret ingredient is shared language. When kids and adults use the same words for feelings and coping skills, it helps everyone’s brains calm down and refocus. This isn’t just for school - the more families use these skills at home, the more our whole community builds emotional fluency. And honestly, there’s nothing cooler than seeing kids stand up at assembly to model those tools for the grown-ups. That’s community magic.

As parents, we have more power than we realize to advocate for systematic support of these roles:

At the School Level: Ask your principal about wellness programming. If your school doesn't have a Joy and Wellness Coordinator, ask why not. Bring it up at School Site Council meetings. Request updates on how the school is implementing LAUSD's Pillar 2 goals.

With the District: Contact school board members and district administrators. Ask specific questions about funding for wellness positions, training for staff, and plans for expanding programs like Jessica's to all schools.

In Your Community: Talk to other parents about why this matters. Share Jessica's story and others like it. The more parents understand the connection between wellness and academic success, the stronger our collective advocacy voice becomes.

Support Current Programs: If your school has wellness programming, participate. Return those media release forms so coordinators can showcase their work. Volunteer when possible. Ask how you can support their efforts at home.

Jessica's journey to her current role is telling. She started as a volunteer at Westminster Elementary, became a teaching assistant, then a teacher, and finally transitioned to Joy and Wellness Coordinator. The school recognized her unique gifts and created space for them to flourish.

This is what's possible when schools prioritize wellness: they discover that teachers like Jessica: who understand that academic success and emotional health are inseparable: can transform not just individual students but entire school cultures.

Jessica's students don't just learn coping strategies; they become ambassadors for emotional intelligence. They teach bubble breaths to their siblings, use conflict resolution skills at home, and develop empathy that will serve them their entire lives.

The academic benefits follow naturally. When children feel safe, supported, and equipped with emotional tools, they're ready to tackle challenging content, collaborate effectively with peers, and bounce back from setbacks.

Imagine if every LAUSD school had someone like Jessica: a dedicated professional whose job it is to nurture children's emotional development alongside their academic growth. Imagine if wellness wasn't an add-on program but the foundation that makes everything else possible.

This isn't just a nice-to-have. In a district where students face significant challenges outside of school, wellness support becomes the bridge that makes education accessible and meaningful.

The choice isn't between academics and wellness: it's between an education system that acknowledges the whole child and one that pretends emotional needs don't affect learning outcomes.

Jessica Dunn and coordinators like her represent the future of public education: professionals who understand that before we can fill children's minds, we need to heal their hearts and build their confidence.

Have you seen the impact of wellness programming in your child's school? Are you curious about what Joy and Wellness Coordinators do, or do you have questions about advocating for these roles in LAUSD?

Share your experiences in the comments below. Let's start a conversation about what our kids really need to thrive: and how we can work together to make sure they get it.

Because here’s the truth: when we invest in joy and wellness, we’re not just making school more pleasant - we’re equipping kids with emotional skills they'll use for life. And honestly, that’s more powerful than any test score.