This year, Student Council has begun a new series called Wellness Wednesdays. This past semester, on the first Wednesday of each month, StuCo invited a renowned guest to speak about important topics like substance prevention, stress management, self-care, mental health disorders, healthy decision-making skills, and self-esteem.
In the wake of recent suicides and the social effects of the pandemic, StuCo students recognized that their high-achieving and outstanding peers don’t prioritize their wellness; high expectations and stressful schedules often deteriorate their mental health.
In an effort to remedy this and with the intention to empower their peers and encourage meaningful growth, Wellness Wednesdays (WWs) were born. The idea behind WWs was consistency. Student Council already hosts a Wellness Week, but doing WWs as a series would provide HPHS students with a consistent and diverse source of wellness education to make them well-rounded and healthier individuals.
Student Council experienced success with their first semester of WWs, but they are wanting to expand it this semester. StuCo is now going to do them every other week (twice a month), with one WW per month being a guest speaker, and the other WW that month being a student/group led wellness activity (ex: journaling, yoga, meditation, organization, music, dancing, walking, painting/drawing, etc.). StuCo hopes that by increasing the frequency and making the sessions more interactive, they will draw more participation and expand the effort.
But, StuCo needs YOUR help! As much as possible, please remind/encourage the students you know to attend Wellness Wednesday, and also remind/encourage them to take measures to protect their mental health and prioritize their wellness. Although Wellness Wednesdays are a great way to do so, it’s not the only way, so any sort of encouragement or reminder is immensely helpful to the cause. We would also love recommendations of speakers if you know of anyone who seems like a good fit; please email speaker information to [email protected] and [email protected].
Student Council really appreciates you helping us with this effort! If you have any ideas, questions, concerns, or feedback on how you think StuCo could improve this series/expand the program, they would LOVE to hear! Thank you everyone, again!
Ava Tiffany, Student Council President