FIRST School awarded grant from Richland County Foundation Woman’s Fund
FIRST School, an alternative residential school operated by Mid-Ohio ESC in Mansfield, recently received a grant from the Richland County Foundation Women’s Fund to support a creative writing and therapeutic support group for girls, which will include an introduction to yoga and meditation.
According to FIRST Principal Vanessa Wagner, “Our students at FIRST face many serious issues and challenges. This initiative is designed to help heal the whole student from the inside out by using physical movement, writing, reading and therapy. We hope to show the students ways to use these mindful skills and movement in their everyday lives so they can become more focused, whole and centered adults.”
Grant funds will pay for journals, yoga mats and equipment, books on mediation and yoga, 
as well as copies of the book How I Made It to Eighteen by Tracy White for each participant.
Wagner explains that receiving funding from the Richland County Foundation supports the continued partnership of the FIRST School and Foundations for Living, which operates the alternative program. “Kelly Woodworth, a very successful and respected therapist at Foundations, and our talented language arts teacher, Lorri Ramey, were both very enthusiastic about trying this creative approach.”
Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center, located at the Mid-Ohio Conference Center at 890 W. Fourth St. in Mansfield, provides high quality, cost-effective, specialized academic/ therapy support services and professional development for school districts in the Central Ohio region. These include offering alternative educational options, preschool education and printing services, as well as conference center facilities.