Wellness Center Welcomed Back with Changes
Mental health resource returns to campus with new aspects and conditions.
By Jisela Negrete
Mental health resource returns to campus with new aspects and conditions.
By Jisela Negrete
The Wellness Center was reopened for students and staff to use on Nov. 20 2023, and was originally open Monday through Thursday with the same counselor present everyday. Unfortunately, Almaden Valley Counseling Services was unable to staff the Wellness Center with one consistent counselor for the remainder of the semester causing an unpredictable schedule.
The Wellness Center is currently open Tuesdays and Wednesdays with counselor Delanie Segura, as well as Fridays with counselor Christine Nwachuku. In a change from last year, students need to speak to a teacher and a counselor before visiting the center.
Both current counselors have estimated that during the second semester only two or three students have been attending daily. This is down from last year, when former Wellness Center coordinator Deeba Davari said there were a little over 1,900 visits, or an average of more than 10 a day, in 2022 and 2023.
At the end of last school year, the Wellness coordinator position was cut due to enrollment decreasing, with teaching positions prioritized before Wellness Center staff. This year, the administration had to get creative to bring the coordinators back.
“What we did was we used some site funds to open the staffing in the Wellness Center by paying an existing contractor that we already have, Almaden Valley Counseling Services, to add more staff so that they could provide services to kids during the day, like one-on-one counseling,” said Principal Brad Craycroft.
English teacher Theresa Udell is a member of the Climate Committee who is aiming to get the Wellness Center staffed more consistently.
“We’ve been working with them to get a more consistent schedule going. Right now they have some staffing problems themselves, it seems to be a common trend amongst social services and other organizations,” said Udell.
Assistant Principal of Student Services Erin Cahill hopes to get the Wellness Center running the way it has been before.
“We would love to get it back up and running where it has been. I think right now the main concern or not necessarily concern but we just want to make sure that it's staffed and then once it's fully staffed then you know thinking about you know the next step how can we continue to grow it,” said Cahill.
In the future, admin hopes they can expand the Wellness Center to be open for students during FLEX, while also providing a series of wellness topics and strategies.
“So one example might be like art therapy. So there's lots of different strategies that the people in there use with students to help bring down anxiety, give them a space to kind of calm down and support them,” said Craycroft.
Although the Wellness Center has had its fair share of hardships starting up, the intention has always been to support students.
“My favorite part about the Wellness Center is I just get the chance to give students support. I like the idea that I get to be there for them. I know that being a student is hard, so just the fact that I get to help them is my favorite part,” said Nwachuku.
The Wellness Center is currently open Tuesdays and Wednesdays with counselor Delanie Segura, as well as Fridays with counselor Christine Nwachuku. In a change from last year, students need to speak to a teacher and a counselor before visiting the center.
Both current counselors have estimated that during the second semester only two or three students have been attending daily. This is down from last year, when former Wellness Center coordinator Deeba Davari said there were a little over 1,900 visits, or an average of more than 10 a day, in 2022 and 2023.
At the end of last school year, the Wellness coordinator position was cut due to enrollment decreasing, with teaching positions prioritized before Wellness Center staff. This year, the administration had to get creative to bring the coordinators back.
“What we did was we used some site funds to open the staffing in the Wellness Center by paying an existing contractor that we already have, Almaden Valley Counseling Services, to add more staff so that they could provide services to kids during the day, like one-on-one counseling,” said Principal Brad Craycroft.
English teacher Theresa Udell is a member of the Climate Committee who is aiming to get the Wellness Center staffed more consistently.
“We’ve been working with them to get a more consistent schedule going. Right now they have some staffing problems themselves, it seems to be a common trend amongst social services and other organizations,” said Udell.
Assistant Principal of Student Services Erin Cahill hopes to get the Wellness Center running the way it has been before.
“We would love to get it back up and running where it has been. I think right now the main concern or not necessarily concern but we just want to make sure that it's staffed and then once it's fully staffed then you know thinking about you know the next step how can we continue to grow it,” said Cahill.
In the future, admin hopes they can expand the Wellness Center to be open for students during FLEX, while also providing a series of wellness topics and strategies.
“So one example might be like art therapy. So there's lots of different strategies that the people in there use with students to help bring down anxiety, give them a space to kind of calm down and support them,” said Craycroft.
Although the Wellness Center has had its fair share of hardships starting up, the intention has always been to support students.
“My favorite part about the Wellness Center is I just get the chance to give students support. I like the idea that I get to be there for them. I know that being a student is hard, so just the fact that I get to help them is my favorite part,” said Nwachuku.