On May 1st, students filtered by grade level into the gymnasium from 8 a.m. through Flex for EHHS’s first Wellness Fair. The fair was a collection of school-based and outside organizations showcasing different physical and mental wellness-related resources to students, all the while hosting different activities for them to partake in.
Organizations like BH Care, the East Shore Health Department, the Umbrella Foundation, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), Multicultural Ambulatory Addictions Services (MAAS) Day Treatment, Integrated Bilingual Counseling, and the East Haven Youth Wellness Alliance all ran booths at the fair. There was also representation from internal organizations like Yellowjackets Peer Mentoring, the Kindness Club, the EHHS Attendance Committee, the EHHS Transition Academy, and Fair Haven Community Health Care (our school-based health center). There were also groups of student volunteers and student athletes ran a table about wellness for athletes. Students were exposed to many resources and fun activities, such as cornhole, a photobooth (run by the Kindness Club), scented rock-making (run by the Transition Academy), a positive affirmations sticky note wall, stress ball-making, and bracelet-making.
Additionally, a unique passport system encouraged students to visit tables on different topics and earn a stamp for that topic, rewarding them when their passport was completed with a spin on the “Wellness Wheel.”
The fair was initiated by Ms. Tracy Bureau, who works as Executive Assistant to the Office of Curriculum Instruction. She coordinated with EHHS staff members Ms. Melissa Dwyer, Ms. Jessica Gaudioso, Ms. Kayla Torpey, Ms. Jisela Liedra, Mr. Anthony Verderame, Ms. Maria Pompano, and Ms. Mary Pat Lamberti of the school-based health clinic. Once the group got together, they incorporated students from the Yellowjackets Peer Mentoring program, the Attendance Committee, and other select volunteers to help them plan the fair.
The wellness fair took about four months to come together and required administrative approval to get off the ground, where they then decided on a way to best filter students through the fair. Ms. Bureau was a driving force behind the scenes, acquiring a grant to fund the fair after an acquaintance at BH Care informed her of it. She applied for the grant through the Alliance for Prevention and Wellness. The grant total was $5,342 for vaping prevention and mental health wellness. $900 of the grant went towards the Wellness Fair, which was chosen to take place at EHHS because vaping is more prevalent for high school aged students. The rest of the grant funding went towards purchasing anti-vaping curriculum for EHPS middle schools, substance misuse prevention for grades K through 6, and mental health awareness, safety, healthy relationships, and substance abuse curriculum for grades K through 8. Once EHPS was awarded the grant, the money was required to go to the Wellness Fair because it was included in the proposal. Ms. Bureau pitched it as a priority to make sure that students know they’re supported and that there are places they can go and resources they can use if they are struggling.
The Wellness Fair focused on different topics, including attendance at school, healthy relationships, exercise, healthy eating, hydration, sleep, and overall mental and physical health so as to help students be the best they can be in school and teach them how to care for themselves. Mary Pat Lamberti from Fair Haven Community Health Center hosted an art therapy table that also focused on healthy eating and exercise, while the Umbrella Academy tackled healthy relationships.
Staff and administration felt that the fair was a big success. “It was the first year we did it, so I was really worried, you know. Was it going to go well? And was everyone going to be there [who] was supposed to be there? Are the kids going to enjoy it, or was it going to be something that they’re like, oh, it’s just another thing to do? But I felt like it went really well,” said Ms. Dwyer, one of the social workers here at EHHS who was a big part of the fair’s success. “We got really good feedback from students, and I think that they really enjoyed the different activities and things like that…even a lot of teachers said they heard students saying that they really enjoyed it and they thought it was fun.” The fair was a moment for students to decompress and come together not just with fellow peers, but also teachers and faculty. Ms. Bureau said that Mr. Oshana of the science department was excited to be engaging with students that aren’t his own, and Ms. Lutar commented about the Integrated Bilingual Counseling center that came, saying that it was something that the schools needed.
Freshman Aaliyah Rivera said she learned that “[Many organizations] do therapy sessions that you can go to. [O]ne of the girls showed me the paintings that she was doing there and I was interested. I wanted to sign up for the (art) therapy sessions and tell my mom about it.” Even students who didn’t express direct interest in the resources provided thought the fair was still beneficial overall. While he doesn’t struggle with mental health, Freshman David Alvarez said that he believes that someone who does will make use of the information at the fair and will benefit from it.
After the fair’s success, the plan is to start preparing for next year’s fair earlier in the school year, around September. Ms. Bureau and staff are going to try to let the East Haven Youth Wellness Alliance spearhead the project, as it is their hope that it will be made up of students and, therefore, student-led. Once student volunteers are on the Alliance, they will work with EHHS staff to identify areas that they think need to be addressed and the groups will work together to incorporate new ideas and create another fair that will keep students just as engaged and informed as this one. “Hopefully it’ll be more student-led. The idea of the grant is to have a coalition of students identifying what they feel like is the biggest need,” said Ms. Bureau. “So hopefully reaching out to [interested] kids [and] getting more student involvement so that I don’t feel like I’m the one deciding what’s the best prevention method for the high school, because I’m not a student. I don’t engage with a lot of students in my role. So I feel like it’s important to have the students involved.”
With students lending a first-hand perspective and EHHS staff and administration lending their experience and support, students can look towards a fair next year that will be even better than the last.
