Every single year, Northview High School's Beta Club hosts something called as Stress Awareness Week: the one week of the entire school year that alleviates stress from high school students. This year, this event occurred just a week ago on Oct. 23 to 27. As the Northview Beta Club President, I have taken a huge part in organizing this wonderful event. For Stress Awareness Week, the Northview Beta Officer Board assigned a special activity for each day of the week: Monday is PJ Day, Tuesday is Stress Kit Day, Wednesday is Stress Balls Day, Thursday is Stress Break Day and Friday is Puppies Day. As you'll see below, I'd say this week was a blast.
Day 1 – Monday: PJ Day
What better way to alleviate stress by getting out of bed and heading to school without changing? Many people were extremely comfortable and enjoyed a day of school in their pajamas. Throughout the day I noticed many people wore their pajamas and were truly excited to wear them.
Day 2 – Tuesday: Stress Kit Day
The Northview Beta Club officers and members worked extremely hard to create small stress kits for students. We created approximately 500 bags overall and passed them out in the morning. Many people were thrilled to see what were inside, and many were also disappointed for not receiving one. The stress kit bags contained a marble, a small piece of string, a penny, a tea bag and a mint. On the outside of the bag, there was a cute message that said: "Have a penny so you're never broke... Have a tattoo because your stress is temporary... Have a string so you have something to hold onto... Have a marble for when people say you lost yours... Have a tea bag to warm your heart... Have a mint so your day stays minty fresh."
Day 3 – Wednesday: Stress Balls Day
Many people were thrilled to see the ever-so-famous stress balls to return to Northview High School. This year the Northview Beta Club brought over 500 stress balls to hand out to students in the morning. Throughout the day, I witnessed many people playing with these stress balls, and I was truly happy that many people were enjoying these stress balls, personally designed by one of our Beta officers!
Day 4 – Thursday: Stress Break Day
On Stress Break Day, everyone was provided a 30-minute break from school. There were many activities students could do such as playing basketball in the gym, having a study hall in their classes or even playing Mario Kart in the school library! There was a positive feedback from many students, saying how they wished there was a stress break every week. The Beta Officer Team was truly thrilled to hear all of the positivity about stress break day.
Day 5 – Friday: Puppies Day
This day was absolutely the most popular one. For puppies day, the Northview Beta Club contacted the Furkids animal shelter to provide us around seven puppies to alleviate students' stress during lunch. Around 300 people showed up to take a few minutes of their time, petting and getting to know the puppies. For me, I got to know Gorgeous really well, especially since she fell asleep in my arms.
To anyone in the Beta club, I'd say go and encourage your school's officers to start a Stress Awareness Week in your own school. Beta Club is all about making an impact on our community so why can't we make a strong impact on our school's mental health? Take a stand and let the world just how powerful the National Beta Organization is.
