A 2018 study of more than 35,000 high school students from throughout the United States revealed that 44 percent of teenagers feel stressed out "all the time."

In an effort to decrease stress levels, and to also teach students the proper tools, Wilbraham & Monson Academy held a Stress Relief Day April 4.

The event was held in lieu of school meeting and advisor meeting, offering 23 options for students. Led primarily by WMA faculty, the Academy offered low-key stress relief sessions such as baking and walking the triangle, to sessions a little deeper, like workshops on mindfulness and a mental health panel.

Quotes

School Adjustment Counselor Tess Presnal on hosting WMA's Stress Relief Day: "Our thought was how can we make assessment week and the week leading up to assessment week less stressful. We've found that time of year is always stressful. At first we thought about getting therapy dogs, but we're on a waiting list. Then we thought how else we could incorporate some stress relieving activities, and that's where the workshops were born."

Ms. Presnal on why the school offered 23 workshops: "We know that all students have different interests. Yoga isn't going to be stress relieving for everybody, and it might actually cause stress for some people. We wanted the students to have a selection of workshops they could be in that hits their interest level and helps them relieve their stress."

Mr. Bill Rosenbeck on running a Meditation Mindfulness Workshop: "For something like stress relief, the biggest tool we have is awareness: realizing that we're stressed and deciding to do something about it; deciding to act in a positive way instead of having the stress lead us. The analogy I use with kids is rather than being on the boat floating down the river, you want to take control of the direction it's going."

Celina Rivernider '19 on coordinating a Mental Health Workshop: "The reason I wanted to do this panel is I think we're lacking a space where students can talk about mental health or mental illness. I think we made really good progress today. We had a good discussion about mental health in our own community and our own personal experiences, and we could support each other. It was a great atmosphere and I think we started a good discussion."

Gorana Puzovic '19 on attending the Yoga Workshop: I thought it was really good because we got seven minutes of meditation, which was good to settle down your mind and stop thinking about everything going on around you. You could focus on yourself and relax. In my opinion, this workshop was really good. As a community, I think we should do it more often. With assessment week coming up, it's good to calm down and relax a little bit. It was good to settle down and forget about things for an hour."