To alleviate students’ stress and teach new skills, the Diamond Bar High School Wellness Team has introduced Wellness Wednesday to the school, a virtual event dedicated to spreading information about how to care for one’s mental and physical health.

Taking place on a weekly basis during the tutorial period, Wellness Wednesday began as a virtual alternative to the traditional peer counseling that was provided on campus. During these meetings, where teachers and students discuss a weekly topic in a Zoom call, resources such as educational videos are provided to students to aid them with managing their wellbeing. 

Before the pandemic, activities like Wellness Week were held on campus to achieve a similar goal with a hands-on approach— without the barrier of a screen. Wellness Week was dedicated to enlightening students as to the importance of mental health. To imitate this highly interactive event, students in Wellness Wednesday participate by answering questions given by teachers and by commenting on students’ experiences. 

“We wanted to give something to provide information on wellness,” school psychologist Stacy Woodward said.

Every Wellness Wednesday meeting explores new subjects. During meetings, participants discuss predetermined questions, like “What kind of events and experiences cause stress?” pertaining to the given topic, then provide input and commentary. 

“It wasn’t really like we asked a question and they would answer,” Woodward said. “It felt like a conversation, and that was really nice.” 

Video resources are also presented to provide information about another aspect of wellness. After viewing these clips, students are given time to reflect with one another.

“I think it was beneficial because normally, we wouldn’t focus on our [struggles]. We just usually think that there’s a lot of assignments to do, but we rarely take a moment to think about ourselves,” sophomore Brianna Li said.

Previous sessions followed topics ranging from stress management to yoga. More interactive sessions, such as the latter, are led by advisors. In the future, the Wellness Team plans to cover concepts such as gratitude and drug use, though these sometimes change as the staff adapts to students’ needs.

Advertisements promoting Wellness Wednesdays have been posted on Google Classroom, as well as the Wellness Center’s social media (@dbhswellness on Instagram), encouraging students to attend.

“I would recommend a friend to go because I know other people are really stressed out too,” Li said.

The Wellness Team anticipates continuing Wellness Wednesdays as long as distance learning remains as an effort to give resources to and inform struggling students.

“I think [wellness] is important all the time, it’s more important now since everyone is under stress,” Woodward said. “Even if you’re good at online learning, it’s stressful.”