Mr. David Gusitsch: #NCHS_WE: providing unity in our community!

2018.1.19

#NCHS_WE

“Outtakes”. A snippet of thoughts to kick off this blog post:

This week brought the first iteration of the NCHS Wellness-Enrichment offerings during midterms. We are looking forward to learning from this experience and continuing to grow opportunities that foster a positive school environment, all year long.

What I am looking forward to putting into practice, or continuing:

Seeing students and staff coming together to participate in activities that they have chosen and enjoy.

Quote(s) that resonated with me this week:

Taking time for yourself is always worth it.

#NCHS_WE: providing unity in our community!

After a snowy return from the holiday break, we finally got to midterm week at NCHS. As discussed throughout the first semester by the administrative team, teachers, parents, and students, we wanted to offer something that would lighten the stressful atmosphere and possibly even provide some fun. Enter, #NCHS_WE. Leading up to this week, we gathered information through surveys from staff and students and tried to cater offerings to what people were most interested in. This was a great collaboration by staff, students, and parents that kicked off on the first day of exams. Below is the message that was sent out to students:

Greetings Students,

During exam week, we are considering offering some wellness-enrichment activities between the exam periods for students (and staff) to have options to de-stress, prepare for upcoming exams, or just have some fun (there is a great amount of research on activity and mood as it relates to positive academic performance).

All offerings are intended to be non-curricular and encourage a positive experience through individual choice. These may include physical activity offerings in our larger spaces, or something that you are enthusiastic about based on your area(s) of interest throughout the rest of the building (musical offerings, art offerings, club-related offerings). Some ideas that have been shared include badminton, guided meditation, yoga, kan-jam, spikeball, volleyball, musical jam session(s), karaoke, board games, puzzles, sudoku, etc... Of course, having quiet spaces for students to study will always be an option.

In an effort to guide our planning, we have put together a quick survey (less than 2 minutes) to see what your interest level may be in participating in any activities/offerings. Your participation is dependent on your schedule, so there is no strict commitment. You may choose to participate in an activity for one or two days, or for all four. Our hope is that you will enjoy checking out some, or many, of the offerings and have some fun with your peers (and maybe even teachers)!

The purpose of the survey was two-fold. One was to gather information and the other was to provide awareness about the concept of #NCHS_WE. Responses were thoughtful and helped guide next steps. We also had one of our students, Olivia, write an impressive article for the online edition of the school newspaper, NCHS Courant. She did her research and included some good links to back up the science behind incorporating movement into the learning process. You can check it out, here.

As of this post, we are halfway through midterms and the response has been positive. Following exams, we will send out a follow-up survey to students and staff to see what went well, which offerings did not bring in the crowds, and solicit ideas for future experiences.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the #NCHS_WE kick-off a success and thank you for taking the time to check out this post. Have a great weekend!

Tags: @NCHS_CT, #NCHS_WE, #wellness, @ofl_courant, @NCHSCourant, @BeWellNCPS

Please feel free to contact or follow me:

Twitter: @DavidGusitsch

Blog: https://davidgusitsch.blogspot.com/

Email: david.gusitsch@ncps-k12.org

Here are a few pics from the Wellness-Enrichment activities that have taken place so far:

Part of the “advertising campaign”: