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Mission: SOS is springing forward! With 3 outreach
events done, and data ready to be shared on the Mission
experience, April will be a great opportunity for the
Mission community. Stress management is a
hot topic at
Colleges, Universities, successful companies and
organizations around the world. The prevailing advice
is to encourage individuals to develop a life in
balance.
T.S.
Elliot wrote “April is the cruelest month” and while
this may have been a commentary on modern life, for
those of us trying to balance extracurriculars, classes
and responsibilities April can indeed be cruel. Between
taxes, letters from colleges and universities, sports,
plays, and April/May testing, not living a
healthy lifestyle during the pressure cooker that is
April can quickly turn our own lives into a cruel cycle
of negative reactions. The best defense for the crazy
demands of April and May is a life in balance. Check in
with yourself regularly to keep yourself healthy and
well during this month of high demand. For more on
health and wellness, visit our
services and activities
page.
On Thursday, February 7th, Jim Lobdell led his workshop “Choices:
A Guide to Reducing Academic Stress” in C-120.
Parents and teachers from the attendance area came, but
the large majority of the crowd participating in the
workshop were Mission students; and it was their frank
openness and pointed feedback facilitated by Jim’s
leadership that made the evening so powerful.
Lobdell opened with an exercise
that defined each participant’s definition of "life
success." These were shared out in small groups of
adults working with young people, running from their
seats in the front rows back into the crowd of
students. Saving these definitions of success for later
discussion, Jim moved on to "A Day in the life of Andy Bicious", a high-achieving junior. Over the course of
two hours, Jim Lobdell’s presentation explored the
scheduling demands of today’s students, the pressures on
these students, the choices they and their parents are
making in response to those pressures and how we
recognize when stress in students has turned to
distress.
The evening culminated with a
discussion of who’s responsibility it is to support Andy
to make healthy choices and Lessin’ his Stressin’.
Ultimately, those choices are made by Andy and his
parents. Andy’s parents are the only adults in Andy’s
life who see the whole picture, and Andy himself must
learn to recognize when he is in distress, explore who
he is and seek support to make healthy decisions.
For more on Jim Lobdell’s “Choices: A Guide to
Reducing Academic Stress” and additional resources from
the SOS website and program, check out Jim’s power point
presentation!
View Presentation (PowerPoint)
Moving Forward in April: Student Survey Outreach events coming in April for
teachers and staff, parents, and students: “Listening
to Student Voices: Where do we go from here?”
April 2008: check out “Health and Wellness activities”
during Stress Awareness Month!
Support SOS and a “life in balance”, buy Hawaiian BBQ
during Multicultural Week!
Our Mission Statement
Our mission is to support a school environment that
nurtures
integrity, academic engagement, connectedness and well
being.
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