Lunchtime featured students laughing and gulping excitedly from tiny cups, gathering around a table of vibrant highlighters and t-shirts, and jumping high into the air off of a force platform.
All were activities students could participate in for Wellness Wednesday on Wednesday, Feb. 18. The health and wellness initiative, which encourages students to take a break from both the stress of school and their cell phones, featured several activities set up in the cafeteria during all lunches.
One table consisted of smoothie sampling, run by Ms. Alissa Harvey and Ms. Gianna Harris. Students were given the opportunity to try either a strawberry banana or mango smoothie, which was an activity that the teachers found to be a hit.
“We did smoothies last year for Wellness Wednesday and all the students really, really liked it. So we thought we [would] bring it back, and it’s kind of like hopefully the beginning of spring,” Harris said.
St. Joseph’s Prevention Academy, a program that seeks to spread mental health awareness and resources throughout the area, returned to Wellness Wednesday to run a table that consisted of mental health resources with the possibility of winning prizes.
Informing teenagers about mental health facts is important to Prevention Academy member Caroline Heffernan, who finds that early intervention is essential.
“Teenagers deal with mental health just as much as anybody else. Your guys’ brains are still developing, and that can create a lot of uncertainty [and] anxiety,” Heffernan said. “So, I think the earlier people can get help, the better it is for their general well-being.”
That’s not all that Wellness Wednesday had to offer.
MTSS Secondary Coach Ms. Morgan Segal ran a table where students could write supportive messages for cancer patients and decorate yellow ribbons. In addition, alumnus Rob Rabena ’07, who works as a CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) at Ivy Rehab/Physical Therapy and Wellness Clinic in Newtown Square, managed a force plate sensor station. The station allowed students to to jump on the plate, which captured the forces and height of each jump.
Junior Lindsey Micklin visited several of the stations, and found that they did a great job advocating for student mental health.
“This time of year is really hard for a lot of people on their mental health, with the weather, and it’s just overall more depressing, so I think that when we do fun things at school, it just gets people more excited,” Micklin said.
Wellness Wednesday committee member Ms. Alissa Harvey finds that Wellness Wednesday offers some positive community benefits.
“One of the great things that we noticed is that [lunch] is the only time you guys are really able to use your phones, and you tend to put them down to come and congregate, so [it’s] just a nice way to get everybody together,” Harvey said. “It really shows our students that we do care about them, outside of what we do in the classroom.”
