By Malaya Madison
As Lovett students approach the last weeks of school, stress levels rise as they try to get grades up before semester report cards, organize summer plans, or cram for final unit tests. Lovett recognizes the struggles of students around this time with an annual “Wellness Week.”
This year it happened from April 13th through 18th.
The weekly activities are organized by the counselors and the Mental Health Liaisons to create a low-stress environment for students.
I met Knox Amos ‘26, one of the presidents of the Mental Health Liaisons (MHL), who has been a liaison since 9th grade.
He became a mental health liaison because of his ongoing struggles with his own mental health, but spiked moving to a new place and school. He felt his fears fade when he was welcomed into our community here at Lovett.
This inspired him because he “wanted to help foster that for other people and just having that organization and being a part of that, I think, is so powerful.”
This powerful impact is also shown through the behind-the-scenes work. They spent months planning for Wellness Week, meeting with department heads and admin, responding to student feedback, and having multiple meetings
Amos’s vision for Wellness Week was “to focus on increasing the mental and physical well-being of students over the course of the week.”
They concluded that the activities were too overwhelming last year and decided to keep it simpler this year, while still being fun and exciting.
The planning committee did not hit its goals last year. So, their biggest challenge and biggest goal while planning was “focusing on how to make a big turnaround and how to make Wellness Week a big success,” Amos shared.
At a minimum, they wanted to raise awareness of mental health. “I’ve known a couple of people who have deeply struggled and who would have appreciated that in their school, just to be talking about it in a positive light,” Amos shared.
We surveyed students to find out how they responded to Wellness Week. 68 students responded.
Of those students, 38% attended at least one wellness week activity.
So what are the sources of stress for students? 91% of students’ most common source of stress is school, 54% are worried about future plans, and 43% are stressed about their social lives.
The top three ways people release stress (in order) are by listening to music, spending time with friends, and exercising, which were tied.
Many students enjoy spending time outside.
“I took a nature walk for like 20 minutes after school,” one student wrote. “It helped me calm down and rationalize my workload.” Another takes “long walks to sort out my thoughts.”
While hitting the dirt is a major stress reliever for many students, so is music.
“Listening to moody music makes me feel good,” wrote one student. Another: “One time I listened to bunch of music and took a nap and it made me feel a lot less stress.”
Some people have support to help manage their workload. One student wrote that they “have an executive functioning tutor, and they are like my therapist.”
Others lean into millennia-old mindfulness practices, like meditation and breathing methods they’ve learned in religion department chair Ms. Switzer’s classes.
Still others take baths, read books, clean their rooms, and play video games.
While some students expressed frustration with the intensity of a Lovett schedule and the anxiety that can come from the amount of work and rigor, others appreciated the school’s intentions and the steps they’re taking in the right direction.
Throughout the week, there were activities like Karaoke, Nintendo Switch, Zen Den, and a Campus Walk led by Mr. Nascimento, which left the Plaza at 1:45.
There were three non-uniform days (NUD’s) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
On Monday, my friends and I went to Silent Disco three times during the day (that’s how much fun we had!)
Ms. Scott, US Operations Manager, found a company to sell Lovett the headphones, so they continue to use that company each year. There were 3 stations you could choose from, run by the front office. Mrs. Gilmore had chill vibes, Ms. Lucas had Broadway, and Mr. Howell had workout grind.
I have to admit, it was a little awkward to fully dance and sing obliviously when people walked by the glass windows of the Front Office, because they had no music in their ears.
That same day, during lunch, I attended the DIY Stress ball-making seminar with Mr. Greenberg, US Engineering Director, who was asked by Mrs. Mehta to supervise the DIY balls being made. He made the whole experience fun.
It was mostly girls, and we were laughing and having a good time making stress balls out of balloons and flour. Alexandra Aide and Latham McKnight ‘28 had the bright idea to add water to the mixture, which created denser stress balls.
When I went to my next class after lunch, the stress balls had, ironically, caused a lot of stress. I popped mine before we started class. And my classmates Micah Ingram and Henry Thompson ‘29 stress balls popped shortly after.
Anyways, the activity was still a good way to relieve stress.
The next day, students assembled a Less Stress Kit during lunch. Also, in the plaza, Day 1 of the Popdart tournament started.
On Wednesday, there was ‘Play with Clay” during lunch. This was my first impression of Mr. Smith, US Fine Arts Teacher, and let’s just say it made me want to take ceramics.
When my friends and I walked in, he had calming soft rock playing and set up the room ready for visitors. I attempted to make a clay pot for the plants I bought at the Botany plant sale with a crash course in ceramics from Mr. Smith.
A week later, he’s allowing my friends and me to return and continue working on our pieces. Even though my plant from the Botany sale died, I will have a cute new pot that I made during wellness week.
Kari Knotts ‘29 said her favorite activity on Wednesday was working with clay because she was with her friends. “It was really fun, and I think I want to start doing pottery/ceramics as a hobby because it was so fun!” she said.
There was supposed to be a movie shown on Thursday, but it didn’t work, so it got moved to Friday. So on Friday, they ordered Papa John’s pizzas and showed Inside Out.
On Friday, there was also a Virtual Reality beach day during lunch, showing a beachfront view to make students feel like they could relax, forget their stress, and imagine the sound of waves and imaginary sand between their toes.
Along with this, there were therapy dogs. I caught Riley Tillman ‘27 as she was petting one. “I am so excited to relieve my stress with a fluffy dog,” she said.
Wellness Week is all about taking care of our mental health as students, teachers, athletes, and everything else we are.
And clearly, the goal is to prioritize mental health every single week of the year. “I think no matter what, if you’re struggling or if you’re not struggling with mental health, it’s important to keep aware of it and to know about it because it’s a real thing that people around you are struggling with,” Amos said.
Ultimately, we can only tackle what’s right in front of us. As one student wrote on the survey, before a big test, they take some deep breaths and “accept that I know all I’m going to know, and I’m going to do my best.”
