December 12th marked Wellness Day, an event introduced on May 2nd, 2025, to support student mental health through school-run activities. It took place at school, where it offered a break from regular classes. However, many questioned who it actually helped. The event aimed to give students time away from coursework, but students and teachers had mixed opinions. Is this break at school really a break from school?
Students began the day in their homerooms, where attendance was noticeably low. Mr. Scorcia commented, “Students see it as a day to skip instead of signing up for activities.” Several students expressed similar views. Aditya Rath chose not to attend, and Yagna Patel said he “hates waking up early to go to school.” Low turnout shaped the atmosphere across sessions, with some rooms nearly empty while others were filled to capacity.
Activities offered during Wellness Day included slime-making, hand-made ornaments, card games and other short workshops meant to provide stress relief. Despite the variety, students reported mixed experiences. Praanjal Patel said there was “nothing special that [students] would do otherwise,” explaining that many activities felt similar to what they could do on a regular school day. For some, the event did not provide the mental break it intended to create.
The shift of class schedules became another issue. Some students believed the day forced teachers to set harsher deadlines, including assessments moved earlier in the week. P. Patel and Arpit Kumar’s Chemistry test, originally planned for Friday, was moved to Thursday to match the new timetable. Some students said this shift contributed to stress instead of reducing it.
Access to popular activities also proved challenging. Yagna said, “I couldn’t get into volleyball because the attendance list was already full, but then there were other clubs that were barely booked.” The uneven distribution raised concerns that the event’s structure failed to meet the needs of students who preferred specific types of activities.
There were several improvements that were suggested. Students such as P. Patel, Y. Patel and Rath said a full day off would better support student well-being. Mr. Scorcia offered a different perspective, suggesting that it would be more effective to “embed wellness routines during the week” instead of relying on a single half-day event. According to him, consistent habits might have a longer-lasting impact on students than occasional breaks.
Wellness Day aimed to promote a balance between school and student mental health. While some students appreciated the pause from classes, many felt the structure limited the event’s effectiveness. Student responses suggest that future wellness activities will need clearer goals based on a structure that would actually reinforce an ever-enduring effect on student mental health.
THE NORTH STAR 