CHSS SEL-ebrates Wellness!

To kick off Homecoming and Wellness Weekend (no homework!), Clarkstown High School South hosted the first of three SEL-ebrations where the focus was on finding ways to identify and manage stressors, work through emotions and figure out who and what is important to you. This year's theme is "Charting Our Course," (a play on the Vikings mascot) and during their lunch periods, students headed down to the lobby to visit nine wellness stations with activities such as an "Identity Iceberg," where students identified characteristics that are visible to others and those that are beneath the surface; "Message in a Bottle," where students wrote down their hopes and goals for the school year before tucking them into a plastic bottle; or "Anchor Drop," where students wrote down what grounds them.

One of the stations, "Crewmates on the Journey," was led by senior Gianna Sclafani, where students were asked to write messages of encouragement to a child who is being bullied. That child will then receive a box of Friend Mail from around the country, letting them know they aren't alone. The idea came from Gianna's work with the "Be a Friend Project," a non-profit that works to end bullying and its traumatic consequences. "Bullying is so overlooked in schools. It's talked about a lot, but kids don't really pay attention," says Gianna, who sits on the board of the project. "Hopefully showing the consequences of bullying will bring more attention to how bad it is."