Wellness Day 2019

 

#WD2019

Friday, January 25, 2019 marks the first-ever Souhegan High School Wellness Day. Wellness Day or, #WD2019 is the brainchild of Souegan’s Social Worker Sheelu Joshi Flegal, Dean of Students Kelly Driscoll, and school Psychologist Traci Cote.  

Wellness Day is an entire day which Souhegan will be taking to “talk about finding balance and supporting each other in creating a sense of well-being in our daily lives” The goal of Wellness Day 2019 is to get rid of stigma about mental health and to create an environment in which mental health and self-care are a  prioritization no different from grades or physical health. Students participated in all sorts of activities, ranging from Nordic Skiing, Knitting, meditation, to a singalong complete with s’mores.

Steve Dreher lead a campfire sing along with s’mores.

When asked about the day, senior Josh Lacaillade remarked, “Today was actually really, uplifting experience and I think it was a really positive thing for everyone and it was perfect for the end of the semester.”  The environment around the school was calm and relaxed. Senior Mitchell Jacobs said, “today was the group therapy session we’ve thought the senior class has needed all year.” Whether you are a senior, freshman, or faculty member, everyone had begun to feel the pressure as semester one drew to a close.

One of the cornerstones of the day was the viewing of the movie Angst; a movie about the effects of stress and anxiety. Angst received mixed reviews from the student body but sparked many interesting conversations during advisory. Most students felt as though they saw at least a part of themselves in the people featured in the video, helping to normalize the discussion of mental health, wellness, and everything that goes with them.

Advisories met after viewing the movie and discussed the stressors and their coping strategies for stress. Many students use sports, music, and art to relieve stress. Even if their advisories didn’t get too deep into the stress management discussion, many students said they really enjoyed being able to meet with their advisories and have the conversations that stemmed from the original.

Wellness Day 2019 took a serious step towards emphasizing the importance of personal wellness and hopefully it is one Souhegan will be able to continue for many years to come.  Many already have high hopes it will be back next year with #WD2020.