Applemania Bradford is encouraging educators to be proactive about their mental well-being. She’s the founder of Teacher B.A.E., the three initials representing Balanced and Educated. It’s a company she created with the idea of promoting a healthier lifestyle for educators, who suffer from burnout and stress — just as she did early in her career. On Sept. 30, her company held an Atlanta-area conference for teachers called “Back to School Self-Care Con.”
She recently discussed her concerns with rolling out.
What is the mission and vision of your nonprofit?
It’s not just a hashtag, it’s a lifestyle. In 2019, God gave me the vision to establish a nonprofit to unify educators. It was created to bring awareness to self-care and help our communities provide mentorship and coaching to educators through a balanced and educated approach. The vision is to empower beyond the classroom. Research has shown post-COVID-19, that 53 percent of educators fear for their mental health.
“Mental health” is the buzzword in the education world. … We emphasize the importance of self-care, demystifying the myth that self-care is selfish and … that self-care is not selfish; it’s essential. Our goal is to help teachers understand that by putting themselves first. They do that through a balanced and educated lifestyle, such as creating healthy self-care practices to support their lifestyle and implementing instructional practices in the classroom.
How did you overcome the challenge to your mental health?
When I moved to Atlanta in 2011 … I feared for my mental health. I was coming to work early and leaving late, trying to prepare for the next day. Not even for the week, but for the next day. It was a lot for me to balance. I was also young. Moving from Florida to Atlanta was a transition for me. The curriculum in the district was a little different.
I remember the first two to three years, I had a support system at school. It was a mentorship program where mentors and teachers would support me. I became pregnant [with a son who is now almost 11]. I had a tribe of colleagues that supported me and helped me but it was a lot [for me] to balance my career. I must say those first two years were a struggle for me and my mental health. Often I was like, “Lord, how am I supposed to balance all this while becoming a new mom?” I had to release control. I had to use the help that was given to me, focus on the things that I could control and allow the things that I couldn’t control to fade away.
