West Ranch’s Wellness Week, which began Jan. 16, allowed Wildcats to de-stress and improve their wellness through various activities. With the beginning of the new year, the week provided students with a positive start to the semester.
The week started on Tuesday, with students and staff donating their gently-used clothes to the Wellness Center. Donated items were given to Bridge to Home, an organization striving to support those facing homelessness in Santa Clarita. With Wildcats’ contributions, the school managed to donate five large bags of clothing.
On Wednesday, students brought the comfort of home to school by wearing pajamas. West Ranch senior Zofia Bonner shared the joys of a pajama day: “I decided to participate in today’s wellness activity because I wanted to show off my favorite fuzzy pants. They have penguins, owls and polar bears in cute winter attire.”
At brunch, a congregation of Wildcats crowded in front of the ASB office to participate in stress-relieving activities. ASB member and junior Sarah Reid expressed, “I would say the friendship bracelet making [is my favorite activity]. It’s the most fun, it’s the most popular and [has the most] amount of people [taking part].” In addition to bracelet making, students had the opportunity to use coloring pages, exchange affirmation paper slips and write down what’s “on their plate” on actual plates.
Thursday’s activity allowed students to showcase pictures of their pets on the Wellness Center’s Pet Wall. Regardless of breed or species, all pet owners were welcome to add to the growing collection of photos. ASB advisor Mrs. Priske mentioned, “This year, my favorite wellness activity was on Thursday: bringing pictures of your pets. That was super great, we had a ton of ASB kids participate in that and everybody brought pictures. We hung them up on the Wellness Center wall.”
On Friday, students played board games in the Wellness Center, reveling in Apples to Apples and a giant game of Connect Four. The cozy environment was fitting to create lasting memories and conclude a week of wellness activities. Bonner notes the importance of Wellness Week for her: “It’s fun to participate in school spirit. As a senior, I want to make as many memories as possible before I graduate.”
Aside from helping Wildcats engage with the West Ranch community, Wellness Week showed students the importance of prioritizing their mental health and discovering ways to better themselves. “We want to pour in attention to mental health issues to make sure that everybody knows [the Wellness Center] is a safe space,” Reid concluded.
