There is a mental health crisis and teenagers are experiencing the brunt of it. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders are the leading cause of illness and disability among adolescents.
This is where the Wellness Center comes in. They have clearly noticed these problems and would like to prevent them.
One of the programs they came up with this year is Wellness Wednesdays. According to social worker Brenda Chaidez, the program was actually initiated as a prevention program for all of our students, even those students who are not dealing with any mental health issues. “The purpose of the program is to reduce stigma around visiting the wellness center and help all of our students learn skills that benefit their overall wellbeing,” she said. These include learning coping skills and practicing in activities that are fun, but also promote healing and self-care. “With this program we have tried to reach as many students as we can that have problems with depression, anxiety, feeling empty, lonely, guilt and most importantly suicide thoughts,”Chaidez said.
Every Wednesday since the beginning of the year, the Wellness Center staff have gathered to help students with their problems. Each Wednesday there are different activities to help students and they take in ideas from the students who attend and staff.
One student who has been helped is junior Areli Colin. She’s been dealing with stress from her AP classes. With wellness Wednesday she’s been able to attend the program and do various activities, which she said helped. “I got my mind off academics during lunch, which is the only time to relax after four periods,” she said. I’m going to keep on doing it because it was a good way to relax and distract yourself.
According to Chaidez, the program has been doing extremely well. “All of our activities have brought in new students to our wellness center and we have reached capacity every week,” she said. “Students share how much they enjoy the program and have invited their peers to join. The program has also improved awareness about the wellness center services and allowed us as staff to make connections with our students; to the point where they feel comfortable asking for support when they need them.”
Wellness Wednesdays are held in the conference center in the Wellness Center, which only has a capacity of 20-24 students. “This has been a challenge for our program, as we have had to turn students away, once we reach capacity, due to space constraints,” Chaidez said. “We recognize that space is limited and would like to increase access for students, so we are still brainstorming other spaces where we can host Wellness Wednesdays that can increase capacity beyond 24 students.”
In terms of expanding the program, Chaidez and fellow social worker Lorena Sanchez have discussed bringing in some teachers and staff to lead Wellness Wednesday activities, to help promote positive connections between staff and students (outside of the classroom setting). They also recognized that our students have a lot of talents to share with others and would like for them to lead their peers in Wellness Wednesday activities, to help promote student confidence and self-esteem.
Chaidez said she plans on using the morning announcements and the Google Classrooms to raise awareness. “Anyone is welcome to get involved and be part of Wellness Wednesday,” Chaidez said. “We encourage staff and students to bring their ideas about activities they would like to see take place during Wellness Wednesdays. If staff have a specific talent they would like to share, we welcome them to sign up to lead a Wellness Wednesday activity. We would also welcome any donations for activities, such as arts and craft supplies.”
