Students participated in Together We Are activities on Thursday, Oct. 26, to learn more about brain health.
District counselors organized activities focusing on the positive, teaching students to take care of themselves, and helping students to make connections.
Students rotated every 15 minutes to a different location.
In the commons, students learned about community activities and made connections through the resource fair. They also played Conversation Jenga, Connect 4, tic tac toe, and trivia. The purpose of these stations was for students to build support systems and know where to turn if they or someone they know needs support.
In the upper gym, students learned how to take care of themselves physically and develop healthy coping skills and personal awareness. Activities included knock-out basketball, jousting, board games, puzzles, coloring, fidget making, yoga, silent disco, and sensory station.
In the Seedorff gym, students focused on positivity. Students surrounded themselves with positivity and reflected on the people and things they are grateful for. They made words of affirmation bracelets, made self-care plans and a gratitude chain, enjoyed a photo booth, wrote thank you notes, and made tie blankets for Project Linus.
Counselor Shelby Piersch enjoyed organizing the event. “When we went back to the idea of what brain health and mental wellness is, we started pulling ideas of activities we thought would be fun,” Piersch said.
The whole idea behind these activities, Piersch said, was to end the stigma and create conversations so that students feel comfortable when getting the help they need.
“We want students to have the opportunity to try out different things and get a glimpse of how simple brain health can be,” Piersch said. “The biggest thing is that we want brain health to be viewed in a positive way.”
Students enjoyed Together We Are. Kate Wenger (11) enjoyed the silent disco and photo booth activities that were offered in the upper gym and Seedorff gym.
“I liked the silent disco activity because it gave me the chance to relax, dance, and get all my stress out,” Wenger said. “I was able to dance with my friends and teachers, which was fun.”
Caleb Stock (11) agreed that having mental health days is important to show students that everyone goes through challenges.
“Together We Are is a lot of fun,” Stock said. “I’m looking forward to the next one we do.”
