Playtime: Virtual Health and Fitness Expo, college planning, support for student mental health

Spring fever is described by Wikipedia as “any of a number of mood, physical, or behavioral changes, which may be experienced coinciding with the arrival of spring” with restlessness and laziness among the options. Anyone who has been in a classroom around this time knows the feeling and those of us trying to find new and exciting ways to get kids to buy into ‘finishing strong’ know it as well – though obviously this year is different and there are so many other obstacles in place. It seems like everyone at my house is having a harder time paying attention to school-related items lately. Keeping up with school info is hard in a “normal” school year, and at this point, with very few consecutive school days being identical, it seems impossible. Even the daily Action Required: Student – Edmonds School District Daily Symptom Check, which I know is necessary and important, gives me less of a jolt than when it first started coming.

After having missed something in a teacher email this week, I took a second pass at the most recent school emails. The district is currently offering resources for college planning, student mental health needs, a Health and Fitness Expo and more.

College Planning Night, for junior and sophomore families, will be held virtually on Thursday, May 13 at 7 p.m. College representatives will introduce participants to various aspects of applying to college through 10 virtual sessions. Students and their families can sign up to attend sessions together or sign in separately to attend different sessions. For registration and more information on each session available, head to the Edmonds School District Calendar and click on the event. The calendar can be found at Edmonds.Wednet.Edu/District_Calendar.

May is Mental Health Awareness month and “in an effort to help destigmatize conversations around the important topic of mental health,” the Edmonds School District is offering some resources. They have a “Mental Health During Covid and Beyond handout,” which details “normal reactions during abnormal times, tips for coping, [and] when to seek extra help and where to go for support.” They are also offering a Mental Health Community Forum called “Moving Forward Together” on May 26 from 6 to 7:30 pm via Zoom. They will be providing tools and resources to help increase your confidence in addressing mental health, how to know when to get help, suicide prevention, and strategies for having challenging conversations with your loved ones. The Zoom link and additional information is on the district’s calendar webpage.

The Mental Health Resources Page of Edmonds.Wednet.edu has links to each school’s counselors and psychologists and resources for additional help, including numbers for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Trevor Lifeline. You can find that information HERE.

This year’s Health & Fitness Expo will be held virtually from Saturday, May 15 through Saturday, May 22. Registering for the event will get you free access to the YouTube page during that time period, where you will have videos that include local activities and prizes for participating. This event is brought to local residents of Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Brier, by Edmonds Parks & Recreation, Move 60!, ESD, and Verdant Health Commission. For more information and registration you can visit EdmondsWA.gov.

This week I received an email with information about the next info night for Scriber Lake High School. Per the district, SLHS has about 250 students and “benefits students who prefer a smaller, more community-based program.” The school, which has received international recognition for their personal approach towards students, and for their mission to “ensure all students become successful by helping them identify, develop, and maximize their strengths, skills, and talents” offers the same diploma as the other ESD high schools. SLHS students can continue to participate in sports and music via their home high schools and have access to the other partnerships including Running Start. Scriber Lake’s home page has information videos and articles and will hold a virtual information meeting for those interested in the 2021-22 school year on Wednesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. Pre-registration is requested and can be found HERE.

The Edmonds School District is partnering with the Washington Department of Health and Health Commons Project to offer students and staff free, voluntary and self administered COVID tests on campus in the near future. Testing is a part of the district’s strategy to both mitigate transmission and get students back into classrooms quickly. While hoping to expand the offering to all schools by mid to late May, the district will start the testing through a pilot at three schools: Spruce Elementary, Meadowdale High and Meadowdale Middle. For more information on any of the district related events or resources you can visit Edmonds.Wednet.Edu or call them at 425-431-7000.

— By Jennifer Marx

Jen Marx, an Edmonds mom of two boys, is always looking for a fun place to take the kids that makes them tired enough to go to bed on time.

 

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