For years, the SCHS Wellness Center has been a safe space for our campus and is now receiving the makeover some say it deserves. The Wellness Center staff is excited about the makeover and hopes for more engagement from students.
Wellness Coordinator Uwey Belletto explained that the Wellness Center is redoing its space to make students feel more comfortable. New furnishings, activities and new staff have been added to the center to create a welcoming space for students.
“We’re getting a makeover, so we got a lot of new furnishings. We got feedback from students that they love the space, and we’ve noticed we’ve gotten more students to come in,” Belletto said.
SCHS’s community health and outreach worker Jhoanna Arias-Hernandez values student feedback and because of this, they have created groups of students to give feedback to the Wellness Center on what they could improve and what they enjoy.
Belletto’s hope for the Wellness Center is to educate students about the importance of their mental well-being and provide students with a place at school where they can find the support they need.
“Our main goal is to provide a safe and caring space for students where they can come and reregulate, get support and get connected to any additional resources that they need, and just learn about mental health and how to integrate it into their lives,” Belletto said.
Arias-Hernandez explained that although the Wellness Center was created to support students, many times, students may feel intimidated or ashamed to go because of the stigmas around mental health.
“Mental health is often, you know, a big taboo, but really, everyone has mental health. We all have our down days,” Arias-Hernandez said. “We all need support.”
In hopes of eradicating this fear in students, Belletto wants students to know that the Wellness Center is full of support and will always be judgment-free.
“I think (the Wellness Center has) a lot of caring adults,” Belletto said. “We worked hard this year to try to make it more welcoming and inviting so that when students come here, they feel relaxed and calm and that they can be themselves.”
Belletto clarified that the Wellness Center is more than just a relaxing environment. It provides free counseling services to support students when they need it without the worry of financial difficulties.
“We offer ongoing confidential free counseling services for students, which is nice because it’s free, and the parents don’t have to go anywhere,” Belletto said. “Students get to miss class, which they like.”
Belletto hopes that in the future, the Wellness Center will have the opportunity to expand and further support students.
“Our dream for the Wellness Center is for it to grow. You can see that we’re tightly spaced here, so I would just like a bigger, more comfortable space (so that) more kids can utilize our services,” Belletto said.