Wellness Wednesday Weekly

Volume 2 Issue 2
Wednesday, 19 August 2020

Greetings UWCEA Community,

We’re baaaaaaccck!!! The first week of school is underway, and it is great to see students, staff, and families back on campus, following appropriate safety practices to ensure our communities stay safe while returning to our educational routines. As we “summit” this week (hump day reference), we need to take a moment to remember to breathe and check in on the mental health and well-being of each member of our community.

Earlier this week, there was a very timely webinar that provides some insights that you may find beneficial in school, and life. Stress, Coping and Resilience webinar with Clay Cook, PhD, LP (starts around the 5:00 minute mark), was designed to provide educators with strategies to start the year building essential skills. Although the focus of this presentation is on how educators can support students in building essential skills amid a pandemic in the world, the presenter provides a wealth of information that parents and other caregivers can utilize in supporting young people. Older students may also find it beneficial as they better understand the way they learn and obstacles that can be overcome with strategic intervention.

This image from the presentation poses an important question, and the answer can help lead to a better relationship with stress. Stress in life is inevitable, but how we respond to it makes a huge difference in how we thrive in life. In addition, Dr. Cook highlights the concept of “self-care,” which can be in conflict with those of us who come from more collectivist societies. However, he touches on the critical importance of understanding how to care for oneself in order to be our best when responding to the needs of others in our lives.

Making time for proper rest and other rejuvenating activities helps each of us keep going when we are tasked with a variety of emotion evoking or intense activities. We’re looking forward to providing a list of upcoming events in our community that encourage healthy self-care strategies. Next week on the Moshi campus, Marissa Lipovsky will begin providing yoga twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, she encourages those of you in the Arusha campus to explore the opportunities that exist within your area. 

Thank you to the 30+ members of our community who have completed the survey that we are using to build our Wellness Wednesday initiative and determine the best way to support the mental health and well-being of our school community. If you have not had a chance yet, please take a few moments to complete the survey on this link by Friday, 21 August. Your input and insights are vital to creating effective and efficient systems of support.

We will also use your survey feedback to update and redesign our COVID-19 Counselor Resources. The title may change, but the purpose of having a place to provide resources to help our community will continue. If you have ideas you would like to share with the community to enhance our weekly wellness message, please feel free to send an email.

Wishing you a positive and productive kwanzaa week, and throughout the new school year.

Asante sana na siku njema,

Your UWCEA Wellbeing Committee