Sophomore Salima Sher journals in her notebook on September 19, 2022, at CHS. Sher said journaling is something that she found helpful occasionally in destressing.

The counseling center provides students with the option to access the CCS Virtual Mindfulness Room. According to social worker Sara Knoop, the Mindfulness Room helps share resources with students when they need a brain break.

Knoop said, “We started the Virtual Mindfulness Room during the 2020 to 2021 school year. That was the year some students chose to do virtual learning and other students did hybrid. We were trying to come up with a way to share more resources in different ways and [so we] created the Virtual Mindfulness Room.”

For sophomore Salima Sher, the website provided numerous destressing and self-care techniques.

Sher said, “When I looked at the page, I found that a lot of them coincidentally were destressing or self-care techniques that I’ve already seen. So, I think if someone is looking there, if they don’t have any other resources, it would be helpful.” 

Additionally, Sher said that not putting too much emphasis on her grades helps her destress.

“I’m not staying up late doing homework. Instead, I’m doing it in the afternoon or utilizing SSRT, so that I can get enough sleep,” Sher said.

Finally, Sher said that students are lucky to have the resources provided to them at school.

Sher said, “At Carmel High School, we’re so lucky because we have resources like counselors, social workers and digital resources helping with distress and mental health.”