Education
Education

Some get exercised over yoga in Georgia classrooms

Kindergarten students at Bob Mathis Elementary School do yoga with instructor Sedef Dion earlier this month. Students at the school in DeKalb County get yoga as part of their unstructured time during the day. Administrators and teachers say their students exposed to yoga are more focused, and some students themselves have found it helps with their classwork. A small but growing number of metro Atlanta schools have embraced yoga, though it triggered litigation in Cobb County, where a lawsuit says Christian parents at one school complained that it endorses a non-Christian belief system. KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC

Credit: Kent Johnson

Credit: Kent Johnson

Kindergarten students at Bob Mathis Elementary School do yoga with instructor Sedef Dion earlier this month. Students at the school in DeKalb County get yoga as part of their unstructured time during the day. Administrators and teachers say their students exposed to yoga are more focused, and some students themselves have found it helps with their classwork. A small but growing number of metro Atlanta schools have embraced yoga, though it triggered litigation in Cobb County, where a lawsuit says Christian parents at one school complained that it endorses a non-Christian belief system. KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC
By Ty Tagami
May 26, 2017

Despite a backlash last year by some parents against yoga being taught in a Cobb County elementary school, the ancient Eastern practice has been quietly embraced as a teaching aid by other metro Atlanta school districts.

Those who use it say it is a healthy way for students to release tension and relax their minds.

Bob Mathis elementary school principal, Dawn Blackwell, introduced yoga into her Cobb County school to calm down disruptive student

Those who have concerns have cited the fact that yoga is rooted in religion and say you can’t separate the religion from the practice.

The Cobb County School District event led to a lawsuit, but many other schools are quieting incorporating the slow exercise and stretching routines into classes.

“If it helps our children in some way, I’m very much in favor of it,” DeKalb Superintendent Steve Green said in an interview in early May.

>> You can read the full story on what is happening and where it is working at myAJC.com, and view a video of students and their teacher.

About the Author

Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.

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