May is Mental Health Awareness Month. We'd like to share what some of our campus Wellness Centers have been up to! 

Elementary Wellness:

Students at Paradise Valley, Nordstrom, and Jackson have been learning the calming skill of the rainbow. Students learn how to be present, take a deep breath, and ground themselves into the exercise, as they follow the different colors, and traces of the rainbow.

Students at El Toro have been learning new ways of using positive affirmations to build their confidence and encourage themselves during tough times, and thoughts. Working on combating their inner critic, and becoming more of an inner coach.  

Students at Los Paseos have been practicing gratitude, and wellness by participating in circles, and creating gratitude mason jars. Students go around in a circle, introduce themselves to the group, say one thing they are grateful for, and then breakout with a wellness chant afterwards. Kindness, and the environment of positivity is created here with acceptance, encouragement, and empowerment. 

Students at PA Walsh have been focusing on how to identify their feelings and communicate their needs through the social-emotional lessons.  The Beta class has used "Where the Wild Things Are" to express how their body responds when they are feeling wild. We want students to be effective communicators when they are having big feelings. 

Britton Middle School:

In April our wellness theme was gratitude and completing our Wellness Garden. We encourage our students to continue to explore creative writing through journal prompts. The following week we expressed appreciation for our friends by creating friendship bracelets. We ended the month of April by finishing our gratitude rocks for our Wellness Garden.

May is bringing us closer to the end of the school year and is Mental Health Awareness Month. The first week of May we are celebrating National Teacher Appreciation Week with our students by creating kindness hearts. We then continue to express our gratitude by creating letters to our Wellness Counselor, Ms. Sara. to celebrate May 12th, National Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day. To end the round of state testing, we will be making stress survival guides the week of May 15. To continue our focus on Mental Health Awareness Month we will create Dream/Goal boxes based on the 7 pillars of wellness (Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social, Spiritual, Career, and Environment). To end the month, we will celebrate Pride by cultivating a sense of inclusion, belongingness, and community by making pride bracelets and providing students with flags and stickers.

Martin Murphy Middle School: 

Martin Murphy has many things planned to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month with our students. The Wellness Team passed out green ribbons for students and staff to wear to show their support and bring awareness to the effort to end the stigma that surrounds mental health. 

We’ve invited students to join us in painting rocks during lunch as a grounding activity. The students were also able to learn about gratitude and were invited to make their own daily gratitude journals. We will also be doing messages of hope and kind words post-it note activity, as well as decorating green ribbon flyers to hang on our fence.   

The Wellness Team made a space in the staff lounge where staff could anonymously post ways they practice self-care, or share something they are struggling with so they don’t feel alone in their journey. We will also be celebrating our teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week by making a poster with kind messages for our teachers that we will hang in the staff lounge.

San Martin Gwinn: In addition to our Wellness Center, SMG has other spaces throughout the campus where students can relax and take a breath. We have natural areas throughout our grounds and calming corners in classrooms. 

Ann Sobrato High School:

Weekly Wellness Events include Thursdays, during tutorial Leadership skills & more with Guest Speaker, Enrique Flores (permission slip required); Fridays, during tutorial Wellness Peer Support (must apply with a member, seating is limited); Wellness Wednesdays with The Wellness Peer Support Group lunch activities with students. 

The Wellness Peer Support group (WPS) has now seventeen members and is growing. The WPS is working really hard with their lunchtime activities with students.  

On Thursday, April 27th from 3-6 pm WPS had their first virtual event with Mind Out Loud (M.O.L. is a worldwide student-led event to share their mental & health experiences and what training they have to offer). M.O.L. provided a pizza party to those who attended.    

 Check out the WPS picture gallery We also post weekly on Instagram (must have an account to view).

Live Oak High School: 

A Big Thank you to our small group coordinator, Simon! Simon brings Live Oak students together to provide a safe space and hands-on activities every 2nd & 4th Friday of the month. In our last small group we made bouquet dry flower arrangements and this month we will be planning fun festivities for our end-of-the-year events. 

12th-grader, M’kyla, is an active Student Voice with an open mindset to share her thoughts and opinions with our Wellness Center personnel! She helps us brainstorm ideas about what can improve and areas we can develop. M’kyla will leave a positive legacy for students that will be joining us in the future.

Community Solutions and Santa Clara County Behavioral Health are providing informative presentations on career options and internships related to mental health and counseling.  The students who attended had a variety of interests in becoming Psychologists, Counselors, Therapists, Educators, Wellness Counselors, Community Advocates, and more.

Just like our students that need a mental or emotional break, our wellness team also practices mindfulness, creative work, and self-care. Together we collectively work to take care of ourselves throughout the school year. Of course, we also work on ideas, brainstorm together and discuss what is working in our wellness centers.

ALL 6th graders must have proof of TDaP immunization for entry into 7th grade.  

Proof of immunization can be dropped off in the front office or emailed to Heidi Curiel at curielh@mhusd.org.

 

Join our FREE workshop to help you complete your FAFSA and CADAA applications for aid! 

June 3, 2023
10 am to 12 pm 
Morgan Hill Unified School District 
15600 Concord Circle