JAMES BUTLER, M.ED.

James Butler, M.Ed., is the Mindfulness Specialist for the Austin Independent School District (TX). Working in the Social and Emotional Learning Department, James has helped establish mindfulness in over 100 AISD schools. He has been leading mindfulness in classrooms from Pre-K through 12^th grade, presenting workshops for teachers of all levels, sharing with parents/guardians, integrating mindfulness into high school athletics, and beginning programs where schools use mindfulness as a substitute for detention/suspension. In 2014, James was named as the Austin Independent School District Teacher of the Year. In 2015, he developed a pilot program for mindfulness in elementary schools. James turned that pilot program into a curriculum titled Mindful Classrooms: 5 Minute Daily Practices to Empower Teachers and Students that is now being used in 500 classrooms and camps in TX, OH, DE, MT, and Dubai. He also recently wrote a children’s book titled Mindfulness Is that aligns with the curriculum.