Weaving Wellness into the School Day
By Elizabeth Heubeck
M
onday mornings can be tough on high school students. After enjoying a brief respite from school's stressors, a new round of academic assignments and extracurricular activities looms ahead. That's why last year, rising Gilman senior Nigel Parker would make a concerted effort to get to school by 7:30 a.m. each Monday and head straight to the school library. There, he'd get a head start on the school week—without opening a single book. Nigel would take a seat in a circle with classmates and faculty members and, for the next 30 minutes, engage in a guided meditation session led either by Gilman's Director of College Counseling Sarah Ross or Veronica Parker (Nigel's mother and a trained yoga and wellness instructor). "The days I had meditation, I felt better in class, refreshed. I was more confident and more willing to speak up," said Nigel.
Gilman's Monday meditation sessions represent one of the countless ways that area independent schools are weaving wellness into students' everyday experiences. While they may seem like an excessive luxury, experts agree that wellness-related initiatives allow students the best shot at reaching their fullest potential in the classroom and beyond.
Independent schools' increasing emphasis on wellness coincides with a rise in mental health issues during childhood. Between 2003 and 2012, the percentage of children aged 6 to 17 diagnosed with anxiety or depression rose from 5.4 percent to 8.4 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one in three adolescents will experience an anxiety disorder, reports the National Institutes of Health. Experts blame the rise on several factors, including academic pressure, global threats, and social media. Just as there's no one reason for this uptick in mental health issues among children, nor is there one response. Schools use new strategies to nurture their students' mental health along with their intellect.
Guide to Baltimore Independent Schools
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