C R E AT I N G
A Culture of Wellness at SCH BY DEIDRA LYNGARD H'18
Over the past few decades, anxiety levels have steadily increased in the general population, with anxiety now being the most common mental health concern affecting about 19.1 percent of the adult population.1 For educators, the last two years of COVID added additional and unprecedented stressors, including having to navigate an unfamiliar world of virtual and hybrid teaching; keeping students engaged and feeling connected while isolated in their homes; and juggling the needs of their own homebound families. According to a 2021 RAND study of public school teachers funded by the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, stress rates during the pandemic were found to be higher among teachers than most other working adults. “My brain feels like a browser with 100 tabs open,” is how one teacher described her mental state.2 And students? A longitudinal study on anxiety by psychologist Jean M. Twenge from Case Western Reserve University found that “anxiety has increased substantially
among children and college-age students over the last three decades.” The study cites a number of factors for this rise, including decreases in social connectedness and perceived threats from environmental dangers such as climate change, the global pandemic, and crime. All this paints a worrying picture, with long-term implications for the well-being of our society. How does one school even begin to tackle such a huge challenge? But the need to do so is clear as stress and anxiety have a profound impact on productivity, performance, and potential. Clearly, schools have a role to play in helping their communities maintain all dimensions of their health.
A Commitment to Wellness With the arrival of Steve Druggan as head of school in 2016 and his initiative to clarify the mission and values of the school, the goal of supporting students’ self-knowledge and potential was given new focus and momentum.
1 Source: the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
2 Source: From a survey published in the British Journal of Educational Psychology.
school magazine fall 2022
14