The sound of silence is reducing student stress and discipline issues at Kermit McKenzie Junior High School in Guadalupe.

Since school started this year, students have been using a stress-reduction strategy called the Mindfulness Program. The technique, which is catching on in school districts and elsewhere throughout the nation, uses breathing and concentration to decrease and curb behavioral issues and allows students to focus on learning.

And it’s working: While the school has more than 400 students, disruptions have dropped by more than 200 incidents in several months at the campus, according to Principal Gabe Solorio.

“Overtime, we hope to see the results continue,” Solorio said. “It’s too soon to tell if the majority of the drop in incidents is completely from Mindfulness. Time will tell. It helps our students get focused and in the moment. It makes it easier for them to learn. Face it, kids come to school with a lot of distractions.”

Two times a day — in the morning and after lunch — students take five minutes to get “Calm, Alert and Ready to Learn” inside their classrooms. Teachers participate, too.

They begin with school counselor Luis Mendoza’s voice over the intercom system. Mendoza instructs them to sit up straight, put their hands on their lap, close their eyes and relax for five minutes. He also tells them to control their breathing if their minds begin to wonder.

Sixth-grader Krystal Cervantes is a believer.

“It helps me relax and calm down from whatever,” she said. “It makes it easier to learn for me and my friends. I like it.”

Teacher Terry Bauer agrees.

“They are better able to focus on the here and now,” he said. “They are focusing in at the task at hand. Learning is why they are here.”

The Guadalupe Unified School District Board of Trustees approved use of the technique earlier this year.

— Kenny Klein is a spokesman for the Guadalupe Union School District.