Calm.com, an app used for meditation and sleep, was the focus of the latest wellness initiative in Wayne Hills—a group meditation held by counseling interns Darianna Mastricola, Sara Bekteshi, and Riddhi Patel during lunch last week. 

The activity was a success, although only seven or eight kids participated. The new counseling interns are excited for an even bigger group activity on October 23rd, where they will hold the wellness activity during physical education classes so that every student can participate

“The last Calm.com was not as advertised as we would have liked, but we expect to improve the turn out with more advertising and having it take place during gym periods,” says Mastricola. 

It is important for high schools to be mindful of the stress put on students and to make an effort to relieve their anxiety. In recent years, WHHS has made a great deal of effort in order to promote mental health throughout the school. 

But not all students have felt the wellness initiative has been effective in the past. 

“I feel like they try, but no students want to participate. If nobody participates, they don’t actually help. If they actually wanted to help us, they would make it less stressful by being more accommodating to our schedules,” says Gabby Cinelli, senior. 

The students at WHHS have already gotten exposure to these activities last year when wellness Wednesdays began, but the counseling interns believe that revamping the program will inspire students to embrace wellness. 

“We want to get students to think about self-care and what we can do for them, and mental health, whether that is physical or emotional because we want to get students to think about their own health and mind,” remarks Bekteshi.

Lastly, the interns would like to remind the student body that although they are not assigned to students as counselors, they are here to help anyone in need. 

“The three of us are counseling interns here and we are always available for extra support,” says Patel.

The interns want all students to have relatable counselors that they feel comfortable talking to and are looking forward to expanding the Wayne Hills wellness program.