BTHS Wellness Day 2017

By: Tiara Paul and Ester Teper

Because BTHS is an academically rigorous high school, students sometimes feel stressed. However, teachers and peers at Biotech make the effort to support each other and provide insight for achieving balance! On this past Friday, March 11, Biotech had its annual Wellness Day! Students enjoyed a day of relaxation, reflection, and acquisition of important tips for a healthy life.

Freshmen and sophomore students had opportunities to learn about gardening, drumming, yoga, and meditation. In the gardening rotation, our very own Mrs. Fisher taught students how to enjoy mindfulness by spending time in nature. Since it was snowing outside, this rotation was taken inside! Each student got a cup to add soil and a seed of their choice, which will later be planted when the weather brightens up! The next rotation was drumming, but not in the normal sense. Students used their bodies to create syncopated sounds, working together to create harmonies. Mrs. Garbley wrote four combinations on the board, and students executed these in groups. The freshman and sophomores continued on to the yoga area. The instructor discussed effects of posture, types of poses to calm down, and possible activities you can do in a school or sitting environment. Lastly, students went to the meditation room, where the person leading the activity had bowls, which would make music if struck. Students laid down and took a short nap, with the bowls making music making the nap very effective.

Juniors enjoyed another group of activities. They learned about sleep and its effect on the human body and practiced the art of sleeping for a couple of minutes, as well. Then, they rotated into laughter therapy. They listened to people laugh, and since laughing has proven to be contagious, everyone was laughing, relaxing, and de-stressing in this section. Next, students moved on to the zumba room. Zumba is a type of dance, which people often practice to relax. The juniors danced to fast music, doing exercise, having fun, and not thinking about anything else at the time. Lastly, this grade continued to meditation, where the instructor taught them what meditation is really about: accepting sounds around oneself, and learning to cope with them. Breathing exercises and melodic music were molded together for a relaxing half an hour.

Finally, the seniors enjoyed art therapy, nutrition, mental health, and campus safety. Seniors first embraced their artistic freedoms in art therapy. They made four timed “scribble drawings,” ripped them all up, and glued each piece onto a bigger paper. This created a mosaic to express their creativity in a hands-on manner and embrace spontaneity. The nutrition rotation involved a communication activity with tennis balls. It displayed how positive and negative reinforcement affects communication between people. The seniors also learned about how to stay healthy in college dining hall eating. They enjoyed a buffet of food and also designed their own baked potato using easy ingredients that can be done in college. In mental health, seniors learned how to balance an emotionally and physiologically healthy lifestyle, particularly in college. Last was campus safety, where seniors learned tips on how to stay alert and cautious in both suburban and urban college campuses, such as by simply looking up when walking.

Biotech’s Wellness Day was another success this year! Students described their experiences as relaxing and insightful for temporary as well as long-term well-being. What a great way to enter the weekend with a new, fresh, and healthy mindset!