Dighton-Rehoboth

Jean Bezner

My name is Jean Bezner and I have been a special education teacher at Dighton Middle School for the past twelve years.  The journey that led me to teaching was not a traditional one.  After graduating from Boston College, I worked in mortgage banking for six years and then stayed home to raise my children.  I was an active parent volunteer in my children’s elementary school and it was then that I realized my true passion was working with children. I became a special education paraprofessional at Dighton Middle School and during that time I went back to school for my licensure and master’s degree in special education.

I am also a fitness enthusiast, and I have been a group exercise instructor for 28 years. I have taken my love of exercise into the classroom to educate my students about the benefits of exercise for both the body and the mind.

I have been a mentor for eight years, and I am very excited to be part of the Mentoring in Action program. My focus will be incorporating mindfulness in all classrooms, focusing first on wellness for teachers.  The job of teaching. while extremely rewarding, is also very challenging, requiring  both physical and mental energy. We lose many good teachers due to fatigue and “burn-out”; it is essential that we retain our teachers, both novice and experienced.  My goal is to educate teachers of the benefits of taking care of themselves first so they in turn can take care of their students. My hope is to enlighten teachers to the practice of mindfulness and provide a forum where we can all share experiences through mind and body activities that will strengthen us both physically and emotionally.