It’s Nov. 13. Days of advertising and anticipation have led up to this. All class instruction will be replaced by the school’s first Wellness Day.
A portion of students say it was a success, while others think it was pointless. Another Wellness Day is scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 23 But do students want another one?
Wellness Day was organized by the SGA and a teacher-filled Wellness Committee. They took student suggestions into account when planning the activities for the day. Activities ranged from physical activities like spikeball and basketball to crafts like making friendship bracelets.
Students signed up for activities online. Freshman and sophomores went to the two activities they picked for around 40 minutes each. The day concluded with a viewing of the Disney Pixar movie Inside Out. For juniors and seniors, the movie was watched first and activities were second.
Every teacher was in charge of one activity. American sign language teacher Lea Clark had some thoughts on the success of Wellness Day. “I’m anti-stress so anything that’ll make students less stressed is a good plan. However, a lot of people didn’t show up. But if that’s their way of destressing I think it’s OK,” Clark said.
Even if a portion of students did not go to school, Wellness Days are still necessary because students do need breaks from the immense amount of classwork. And for some students like sophomore Ale Valdivia, Wellness Day was fun. “I liked the movie and Wellness Day relieved some of my stress from all the work at least for a little while. I think another Wellness Day is well needed, especially with a short spring break,” Valdivia said.
The Wellness Day scheduled will not be structured the same way as the previous one. This event is a combination of the Sam Williams BE T.R.U.E. 5K run/walk and a Wellness Day. Activities include a moon bounce, face painting, a DJ, a fitness warm up, demos and more. All activities are free.
Spanish teacher and Wellness Committee member Meredith Lange said this Wellness Day will be different than the past one. “We got a lot of positive feedback but it’s hard to plan a Wellness Day in second semester due to AP exams. Anyone is allowed to come to this event so I think people will enjoy it,” Lange said.
Junior Michael Andia did not go to the previous Wellness Day but is excited to go to this new version. “I just stayed at home because I didn’t think it’d be worthwhile but I wish I went. I feel like a missed an opportunity to be with my friends in an unstructured school setting. That’s why I want to go to this new one. It looks more fun,” Andia said.
This Wellness Day event is a good idea, but the fact that it is on a Saturday is not beneficial for students. Students still have all of their homework and studying to do. On a weekend day, a good number of students probably already have plans. This problem could be solved with a no-homework weekend that week.
