The wellness room
One unique and effective strategy for addressing and supporting student mental health in schools could be through the implementation of a school wellness room. At the school I was placed at during a teaching internship, there was a wellness room which students could use on a drop-in basis, depending on teacher supervision availability, in order to take time to destress, talk to a trusted adult, or just escape from the bustling and oftentimes loud environments of standard classroom spaces.
This particular space started out as a break-out space, as it is connected to the school’s main library, and eventually transformed into the wellness room due to an increasing frequency of students coming in with heightened anxiety, elevated emotions, or when they felt like they had nowhere else to go. The atmosphere of the wellness room is warm and inviting, with a selection of comfortable chairs, soft lighting, motivational messages on the walls, and larger tables where students can also do work. Staff members supporting students in the wellness room use the zones of regulation in order to identify where students are at, and the strategies that could be used to bring students back to a zone where they are able to be productive in a classroom. Initially, it was established that when students requested to go to the wellness room that they would have 20 minutes to return to a regulated emotional state, before returning to their regular classroom. For students with exceptional social-emotional needs, this 20-minute time frame has been adjusted.
When asked about the effectiveness of the wellness room, an educational assistant of the school, who has been very involved in the development of this space raved about the benefits of this strategy; “The wellness room is an opportunity to build relationships with kids, and it’s time that doesn’t necessarily happen in an ordinary classroom.” She continued, stating that “There are students in the building who really need this quiet space.”
This particular space started out as a break-out space, as it is connected to the school’s main library, and eventually transformed into the wellness room due to an increasing frequency of students coming in with heightened anxiety, elevated emotions, or when they felt like they had nowhere else to go. The atmosphere of the wellness room is warm and inviting, with a selection of comfortable chairs, soft lighting, motivational messages on the walls, and larger tables where students can also do work. Staff members supporting students in the wellness room use the zones of regulation in order to identify where students are at, and the strategies that could be used to bring students back to a zone where they are able to be productive in a classroom. Initially, it was established that when students requested to go to the wellness room that they would have 20 minutes to return to a regulated emotional state, before returning to their regular classroom. For students with exceptional social-emotional needs, this 20-minute time frame has been adjusted.
When asked about the effectiveness of the wellness room, an educational assistant of the school, who has been very involved in the development of this space raved about the benefits of this strategy; “The wellness room is an opportunity to build relationships with kids, and it’s time that doesn’t necessarily happen in an ordinary classroom.” She continued, stating that “There are students in the building who really need this quiet space.”
Student Perceptions
The quotations below were selected from a number of interviews conducted with students of the school I was placed at during my final internship. Through these conversations, I learned that a considerable number of students in grade 9 thought the wellness room was a helpful resource for them, even if they did not necessarily use the space on a regular basis. Read the student quotes below to gain a deeper insight into the success of the wellness room strategy.
Some Challenges with the WELLNESS ROOM
Despite the amazing opportunities the wellness room provides to support student mental health, it also has posed some considerable challenges over the years that it has been in place. Some of these main challenges include:
If a school were to consider implementing a wellness room, these challenges would be important to consider prior to the establishment of this comprehensive strategy.
- Students using the wellness room as an avoidance strategy.
- Issues with recording attendance with students are in the wellness room as opposed to their designated classroom.
- Students will be marked as absent from their designated classroom and this information is sent home to parents unless an administrator or front office staff member adjusts the online attendance record to reflect that the student was in the wellness room.
- Teacher/educational assistant supervision of the wellness room
- Issues with not enough staff to guarantee that students can enter the wellness room whenever they are feeling stressed – it is only certain times of the day.
If a school were to consider implementing a wellness room, these challenges would be important to consider prior to the establishment of this comprehensive strategy.
oTHER OPPORTUNITIES
GSA - Pride Week Celebrations
At the school I was placed at, there was a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Club that used the wellness room to host a number of inclusive, community-building activities during the last week of school in previous years. Activities hosted in the wellness room included interactive story read-alouds by drag-queens from the community, and also had a variety of rainbow-coloured snacks that all students could enjoy. Youth Matters Club A small group of students from the school were also involved in the Youth Matters club, which was hosted in the wellness room on Thursdays after school. This club provided an opportunity for grade 8 and 9 students to come together to talk about challenges that face them as young people. Club meetings often included activities including discussion circles, team-building games, and crafts. Supports for FNMI Students In the last years of the wellness room, the Indigenous Learning Leader of the school has been taking First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) students that are frequently absent into the wellness room in order to provide them with more direct support as they catch up on work they have missed. |
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Images:
Image 1: Medium (2019) Retrieved from https://medium.com/future-positive/biobeats-a-platform-for-mental-health-ca5f6ccc0d25
Image 2: Bertron, L. (2008). "Rainbow flag flapping in the wind with blue skies and the sun." Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/23912576@N05/2942525739