Advanced Peer Counseling hosted their annual Awareness Week from Dec. 4 to 8. Awareness Week is a week-long event designed to promote social-emotional health in different ways, utilizing fun activities to help strengthen students’ well-being. It has been held annually at Oak Park High School for over 25 years, with this year’s theme as “Breathe.”
“Being able to take a breath can center us deeper into the present, not worrying about the past or the future,” senior APC president Anayat Kaur said.
To kick off the week, a new mural was revealed by the Great Lawn. The mural featured dandelions and the messaging of the Awareness theme. At the mural reveal, the APC presidents further explained the week’s purpose as other peer counselors gave temporary tattoos and bubbles to students.
“I like how the mural represented mindfulness and had a calming theme in the artwork,” sophomore APC member Keemia Ourmazdi said. “Sometimes we overlook the importance of taking a break if we’re overworking ourselves. I also thought the bubbles were fun.”
Tuesday featured teachers who shared their personal struggles with stress and anxiety in the classroom. Spanish teacher Francisco Henning, biology teacher Winnie Sloan and English teacher Jessica Wall-Smith all provided ways for students to deal with mental health challenges and test anxiety.
“The emphasis I gave on my teacher talk was how to avoid being stressful,” Sloan said. “For them to pick up strategies where they don’t feel overwhelmed when they walk into the classroom, I rather them be preemptive than reactive to the stress that they have. That is why I emphasize the 24-hour rule.”
On Wednesday at lunch, Dr. Patrick Lockwood, a professor from California Lutheran University, gave a presentation on anxiety and simple ways to calm yourself in stressful situations. Dr. Lockwood further discussed the origin of anxiety and how it dates back to our adaptive instincts as humans.
“I hope that people were able to understand more about stress and anxiety and know that they are completely normal and there is a reason for them,” senior APC President Corbin Fuchs wrote to the Talon. “I also hope that his demonstrations of belly breathing was a useful tool to everyone if they ever need to calm down or center themselves for a moment.”
Also on Wednesday, OPHS Alumni and former APC member Lily Rosen, now a National Alliance of Mental Illness representative, gave a presentation on ending the silence and stigma surrounding mental health and suicide.
“I hope that listeners understand that mental health should be treated just as openly and freely as physical health,” Fuchs said. “We want everyone to know that one, help is always available, two, you have so many resources here on campus, three mental health should not be stigmatized and everyone should do their part to talk about it freely.”
Wellness counselor Fatima Hernandez hosted a guided meditation on Thursday. She demonstrated how meditation-oriented exercises and focusing on breathing can help improve one’s everyday life.
“It was helpful how we did a breathing meditation session together, where I thought it was calming and made me more set towards the day,” sophomore participant Joseph Mouzaya said.
Ending the week off with a holiday kickback in the Pavillion, students were able to relax, eat lunch, do crafts and enjoy a holiday movie. As finals approach and the semester comes to a close, APC’s Awareness Week supported creating awareness about students’ mental health and helping them learn key well-being strategies. Passing by the mural on the Great Lawn is a reminder: don’t forget to breathe.
