In an initiative to increase the holistic well-being — and retention — of Mesa’s more than 9,000 educators, administrators and staff, Mesa Public Schools has entered a contract with corporate well-being company Grokker.
Grokker’s AI-guided platform provides wrap-around programming to address not only stress, burnout, anxiety and other common mental health challenges but also nutrition, sleep, fitness and financial well-being — everything that teachers, staff and administrators need to feel refreshed and more resilient.
“We’re a family. Grokker helps us connect.”
“We wanted a well-being solution that can help relieve educators’ stress, improve work-life balance, and provide fitness, cooking, mindfulness and other well-being content,” says Rocio Sosa, Mesa Employee Benefits Director.
“But we also wanted something that will help us be more more connected as a district. We’re a family, but we’re spread out among 85 schools that are not all close to one another. Grokker’s challenges give us ways to feel connected and to strengthen ties among educators in different locations.”
AZ educator well-being: crucial to reducing surging attrition
Grokker CEO Lorna Borenstein says, “We know that nationally, a shocking 44% of K-12 educators routinely feel burned out at work1 and that poor teacher wellness and mental health can affect the quality of learning environments.2 It’s a painful problem that often leads to turnover.”
Arizona’s educational ecosystem is under particular pressure to retain educators, with 13.1% actively planning in 2023 to leave the profession, a rate more than 50% higher than the national average.3
Compounding the problem, attrition can drain schools of experienced teachers, who are widely acknowledged as the most effective. Right now, 33% of Arizona’s educators have four or fewer years of experience.4
Retaining new teachers as they mature is important across disciplines, and attracting and retaining instructors is particularly urgent in special education and STEM.5
Grokker yields up to 68% reduction in turnover
Borenstein says, “We’re delighted that Grokker can be part of the solution to increasing the holistic well-being of and retaining Arizona’s educators. Our dynamically tailored content, including more than 4,000 visually immersive videos and numerous wellness guides, provides each educator with the fitness, pre-clinical mental health, and financial programming and community to support well-being inside and out.
“In addition to the deep intrinsic value of feeling well, we know that employees who have greater well-being are far less likely to leave their jobs.”
Actuarial data confirm that Grokker’s platform reduces users’ attrition by up to 68%.
About Mesa Public Schools
Mesa Unified School District #4’s more than 9,000 educators, staff and administrators serve more than 64,000 students who attend 85 elementary, junior high, senior high and alternative schools in Mesa, Tempe and Chandler, Arizona. It also serves pupils from the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community.
About Grokker
Grokker transforms employee physical, mental, and financial well-being globally through visually immersive content. Its inclusive community of experts and personalized guidance is proven to strengthen retention by 68%, triple engagement, and lessen the burden on HR teams.
With Grokker, each member’s well-being experience is personalized to help guide them to the lowest acuity, highest impact intervention. Grokker’s solution seamlessly integrates with HR teams and provides them with ongoing actionable insights.
Global organizations like Delta Air Lines, Pfizer, Target, and Domino’s trust Grokker to support the diverse well-being needs of their teams in more than 179 countries. Grokker is dedicated to making holistic health and well-being equitable, engaging, and accessible for all.
Learn more at grokker.com.
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1K-12 Workers Have Highest Burnout Rate in U.S. Gallup. June 13, 2022. https://news.gallup.com/poll/393500/workers-highest-burnout-rate.aspx
2Restoring Teacher and Principal Well-Being Is an Essential Step for Rebuilding Schools: Findings from the State of the American Teacher and State of the American Principal Surveys. RAND Corporation and National Education Association. June 15, 2022.
3The State of the Teacher Workforce: A State-by-State Analysis of the Factors Influencing Teacher Shortages, Supply, Demand, and Equity. Learning Policy Institute. July 27, 2023.
4Ibid.
5Ibid.
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