Marilyn Nault Howell, Ed.D.: Pioneer in Body/Mind Education
Marilyn Nault Howell was born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County, CA. She grew up with her brother exploring the natural world that fascinated them both. After completing her undergraduate degree in biology at UC Davis, she was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to pursue a Ph.D. at Tufts University.
Marilyn moved from California to the Boston area to conduct research on cowbirds, a species that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. She was interested in how these birds, raised by other species, recognized their own kind. (Such questions about animal behavior would continue to interest her to the end of her life in a deep curiosity that greatly enriched the lives of those who knew her).
Marilyn captured the cowbirds herself and then transferred them to the aviary she built in the attic of the Tufts biology building. However, before the critical experiments were completed, a viral infection took hold of the colony, killing every last bird. Marilyn, who had been so committed to the well-being of these birds as well as to her research, was devastated. After this event, Marilyn lost her confidence that she was meant to devote her life to studying animal behavior.
1972 was a pivotal year. Following the birth of her only child, Mara, Marilyn decided to teach biology at the local public high school, while she figured out what to do next. That school, Brookline High School, was where Marilyn would build her pioneering work, developing and teaching the Body/Mind curriculum. For over 30 years, Marilyn touched the lives of hundreds of high school students, building a following of friends and admirers.
Ellen Kaplovitz, then head of Brookline High’s School Within a School where Mara was a student, describes Marilyn as “the consummate teacher and a pioneer in the integration of biology, neurology, anatomy, and what we now refer to as mindfulness before this integration was popular and accepted. Marilyn challenged the confines of tradition in her personal and professional life. She was a nurturing soul, an ‘old soul,’ who lived to help others in her profession as a high school teacher, as a friend, and as a mother to her daughter Mara and many other young people.”
Shaye Cohn, who was a student of Marilyn’s in her senior year at Brookline High School, continued to visit Marilyn for the following twenty years. Asked to reflect on her experience, Shaye wrote that “Marilyn was a dynamic teacher – fiery, hilarious, knowledgeable, real. She encouraged bold self-exploration and helped to illuminate her students’ curiosity for the world at a time in our lives when we were stepping into adulthood.”
Keith Lezama, now director of Brookline’s METCO program said of Marilyn, “Great teachers understand that they not only teach the minds, but also the hearts and souls of their students, and that is what she did every day….She ignited that fire and that thirst for knowledge….Especially as a young man growing up, she taught me how to be vulnerable, how to take risks. That is what made her great. When you can teach a kid that it is okay to take risks, you spark a love of learning.”
A highlight of the curriculum were the once-a-month evening workshops in a spacious room in Marilyn’s home, where the only “furniture” were large pillows scattered in the corners. In this safe space, students could join in a big circle and, through thoughtfully designed body/mind exercises, deepen their understanding of themselves and their relationships with each other. These experiences seemed to be particularly deep for those young people in her class who Ellen Kaplovitz described as “quiet, questioning, confused or rebellious.” Somehow, Marilyn brought everybody into the fold, a community of equals, where all the social tensions typical of high school gave way to a sense of belonging that would inspire these young people for the rest of their lives.
Word about Marilyn’s classes traveled fast. As anybody who works with young people knows, if one of them feels heard, seen, respected and challenged to discover their potential physically, psychologically and emotionally, soon you will meet all their friends. And this is what happened. Karen Johnson, then a guidance counselor at Brookline High, wrote that it wasn’t long before “a lottery was required to get into Marilyn’s class, and there was always a waitlist.”
Ever the explorer, Marilyn understood that she had found something of value that deserved to be understood better. In 1982 she became a student in the Ed.D. program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Marilyn’s doctoral dissertation brought together what she had been developing in the classroom, making her the author of the first body/mind curriculum in a public school in the country.
As much as she loved teaching, Marilyn told friends that the best part of her life was her daughter. Mara was a vibrant and fiercely courageous young woman. She was passionate about the natural world and about teaching her young students in Aurora, CA. Mara’s gifts were much like her mother’s. Marilyn’s profound love for Mara became most visible for those outside their relationship in the form of Marilyn’s extraordinary dedication and commitment to Mara through her battle with cancer. The disease would eventually take Mara’s life at the young age of 33. Marilyn’s book about that experience, “Honor thy Daughter,” is the ultimate story of love for one’s child.
Marilyn passed in her home in Brookline, MA, on July 6th, 2020. She is survived by her brother, Lowell “Skip” Nault and his wife Loretta, by their children Julie Montoya and husband Dan, Brian Nault and wife Melissa, and their grandchildren Nicolette and Julian Nault and Mia Montoya.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to First Responders First.