CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — Students at Forest Hills High School got a break from their regular classes on Wednesday for something focused on their wellbeing, as the school held a wellness day with activities designed to help students relax and recharge.
Hallways, classrooms and gyms around the school were filled with different wellness stations, giving students the chance to step away from their normal schedule.
Activities included things like Pilates, dance kickboxing, drumming, fly fishing, martial arts, and even nutrition and mindfulness sessions.
School leaders say the day was created to help students reset before state testing and learn healthy ways to manage stress.
“My hope is that they take that life is stressful, but that we’ve all come here collectively as a community to help them cope with this and make positive choices so that it can help them beyond Forest Hills,” said school board member Brandi Penatzer.
Penatzer also led a session about the power of positive thinking, teaching students a simple technique to handle negative thoughts.
“I taught the students that you need to catch it, check it and change it. And what that means is when you’re having a negative thought, you want to catch it. You want to check it and see what the reality is versus what you’re assuming is going to happen and then change it into a positive.”
With dozens of activities happening throughout the building, students from 7th through 12th grade had the chance to try something new and take a break from the stress of school.
“It just felt motivating being around everyone and seeing everyone smile and happy,” said senior Morgan Gdula.
Gdula, who is involved in many extracurricular activities at Forest Hills, says her favorite activity of the day was Pilates, but what stood out most was the energy around the school.
“You do see a lot of kids that are stressed and just to see a lot of those kids take weight off their shoulders for the day felt very nice and it was very enjoyable.”
School leaders say the goal was simple: give students time to reset and focus on their wellbeing before getting back to the regular school routine.
