WHS Wellness Center: A place to recoup and regroup

by Maria Charry and Michael Glushko
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The Wellness Center just opened and it’s here for students that need to recoup and recover during the school day. Whether you need to fidget or you just want someone to talk to, the WHS Wellness Center is for you. 

The Wellness Center is run by school counselor Mrs. Conoscenti and social worker Mrs. Kremer. “We wanted to create a space where students can come, work on something that’s going to actively calm them down, and get them ready to go back to class.” 
One of the great things that the Wellness Center provides is just a place to talk. Everybody needs someone to talk to at some point and many might not feel comfortable doing that in class, if your school counselor is unavailable, you have the option of talking to Ms. Conoscenti and Ms. Kremer or your fellow students. 

“We just wanted to make sure that kids weren’t being missed, so they weren’t hiding in the bathrooms, and that they weren’t going home unnecessarily. That they had a space where they could regroup and return to class,” explained Ms. Kremer. 

The Wellness Center provides students a community in which they can be open and comfortable around others. These fifteen minute breaks let you take a breather from school and it is a great alternative to going in the bathroom or just straight up leaving school. Also the Wellness Center provides you with great strategies to help your mental health, like coloring, journaling, socializing with others that might be feeling the same way, guided breathing, and making bracelets. 

Another great resource that is provided is the Wellness Group, which is hosted every Wednesday. You can sign up for these thirty minute sessions by either stopping by or scanning the QR code posted on the walls around the school right next to the posters which they have put up. The first Wellness Group is currently set up and running, but there will be other opportunities to join throughout this year. Groups are 6-8 weeks long and meet during rotating periods so that you don’t miss the same class twice.

“We had 44 students come in on Monday and 55 students come in on Tuesday.” Answered Ms. Conoscenti to my question about how many students are accessing the Wellness Center. If that number turns you off, don’t worry because the Wellness Center has two side rooms which you could find more privacy, but if you’re someone with social anxiety, then definitely try practicing socializing with others while you stay there, it could definitely be place where you learn to control that anxiety and then take those practices to busier places.

I definitely do recommend that you check out the Wellness Center at least once. It’s one of the most comfortable rooms in the school and is a great place to just sit down, maybe do one of the puzzles that they have or play around with their fidgets.  

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