Jordan High School has decided to re-establish Wellness Wednesday to support students’ social, emotional and academic health.
According to Jordan’s website, Falcon students will participate in academic and wellness activities in the classroom. No new content will be taught on Wednesdays. Instead, intervention and enrichment will be the main focus.
Students also get the opportunity to join small groups that will further enhance their learning and wellness.
Riverside students wish to have this opportunity and are curious as to why it hasn’t happened for Riverside yet.
“I think everyone should have this opportunity for their mental health because high school is such a big stressor for everyone,” said freshman Sadie Irby. “Starting high school has been really hard for me so I think a break is well deserved.”
Last year, Wellness Wednesdays were used in all DPS schools to remove a workload off students during virtual education. It also allowed students to focus on outside responsibilities and discard any extra stress, especially for upperclassmen who have jobs and outside responsibilities, like sports, responsibilities at home, and other tasks outside of school.
Karen Keim, Riverside’s community liaison and dropout prevention specialist, believes bringing it back now that students are back in-person would be tricky.
“The idea of Wellness Wednesday is great,” she said. “However, what it looks like is unknown. Do students come to school but don’t work, or do they stay home?” “Wellness Wednesday was beneficial and students loved it, but we also have to think about what kind of students we are talking about, because we have super overachieving students who want and need that structure, and then we have students that need to work or support their families whatever they are going through, a wellness day would be fantastic for them. However, as far as I know there has been no discussion about bringing Wellness Wednesday back.”
