By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on January 15, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com
A local content creator has received some significant funding and support for her podcast project from Telus Storyhive.
Tamara Constantine is the Project Lead of “All Things Wellness,” a podcast that will focus on the ever-growing list of responsibilities and struggles that teachers face every day and how many of these hard-working individuals often burn out within the first five years of teaching.
“I am honoured to have been selected for the Storyhive 2021 Voices funding. The funding to me means opportunity and unlimited resources. It gives me the chance to present my project to the people who need it the most,” said Constantine.
She said this funding will allow her to help new teachers ensure they are participating in self-care practices and have good routines set right at the beginning of their careers, in hopes of mitigating the chances of teacher burnout.
Constantine is among a selection of 91 creators that will each receive $10,000 of funding, along with training and a community of support through the inaugural Storyhive Voices.
Storyhive Voices is a new program for emerging content creators who want to grow their skills, impact and audience through training and a community of support.
“With this funding, I am hoping to offer insight into a wide variety of self-care tactics, including tips, unique ideas, examples and routines that will help make it easier for teachers to adopt healthy routines into their daily lives,” said Constantine.
She said teachers can develop a daily morning or evening routine that allows them time to do something for themselves.
“This could be whatever they feel will fill their cup, like physical activity, journaling, spiritual work, meditation, breathing routines, or yoga,” said Constantine.
She added that teachers could plan coffee dates with a friend, lunch, or a walk and socialize (not about work) to ensure they do not leave their social lives behind.
“There are small, quick tips that teachers can adopt such as turning off email notifications on the weekends and setting a specific time that they will leave the school by every day,” said Constantine.
She said there are many ideas she wants to share with educators in Lethbridge through her project.
Constantine said teachers give so much of themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally every day. They put their heart into their work and sometimes it can be difficult to turn that off after a day of teaching.
“As the saying goes ‘You can’t pour from an empty cup’. While teaching is fulfilling, fun, and rewarding work, it can quickly become very stressful, especially during these unprecedented times,” said Constantine.
She said that without self-care, teachers’ mental health often suffers and causes them to burn out. Teachers need to take care of themselves physically and mentally to ensure they can continue to give their best selves to their students.
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