CHRONICLE THE HARVARD-WESTLAKE
Los Angeles • Volume 27 • Issue 5 • Feb. 13, 2018 • hwchronicle.com
Ross raises depression awareness
Going Viral
Illness-related absences spiked last month in one of the worst flu seasons in nearly a decade. • Continued on B8
By JOSIE ABUGOV
Head of Upper School Laura Ross expressed sympathy and offered mental health resources to students in light of a suicide of a Buckley eighth grader in an email sent to upper school students, parents and faculty Feb. 2. “While there is no way to prepare for a tragedy like this, we hope that by sharing this news within our HW community it may help in a small way to unite us in processing our own personal reactions to this traumatic loss and in allowing us to support each other,” Ross said in the email. Ross also reached out to Harvard-Westlake students who volunteer as hotline listeners for Teen Line, a nonprofit teen helpline based out of the Cedars Sinai Medical Center. During First and Third Wednesday assembly on Wednesday, the volunteers shared why Teen Line is a resource beneficial to the student body. “Teen Line not only provides a safe, anonymous, judgment free space for a teen to take any issue, but it more importantly is with a peer, someone their age, someone who really understands and has the 200 hours of training to handle every situation, despite their age,” Teen Line volunteer Evan Keare ’18 said. Continuing conversations about mental health, implementing clubs similar to Peer Support and ensuring counselor accessibility to a student
ILLUSTRATION BY KITTY LUO
body are some of the ways Teen Line Program Director Cheryl Eskin said schools could protect their students’ mental health and diminish the stigma surrounding it. “Depression and anxiety seem to be the biggest issues we are seeing [in teens],” Eskin said. “I think schools and communities need to look at the pressures we are putting on our kids, and prioritize sleep, down time and exercise. We need to teach coping
skills, things like mindfulness or meditation, and how stress can take its toll on your body.” Similarly, upper school psychologist Sophie Wasson said that based on the topics students speak with her about, some of the biggest mental health issues within the student body seem to be academic pressure, academic and social competition and anxiety and depression. Creating more spaces on campus to discuss mental health could
alleviate some of these issues, she said. “I think [the school should have] more spaces for students to engage in conversations around what they’re going through, around wellness and about what it’s like to be a Harvard-Westlake student,” Wasson said. Eskin also emphasized the importance of having an open and receptive school culture, in which there isn’t a stigma surrounding mental health is-
sues. “I think schools, parents and peers all contribute to the pressure,” Eskin said. “Suicide is very complicated, and I don’t believe there is one cause per se, but we are seeing more and more depression and anxiety, particularly among kids in these tough environments, which is alarming.” The administration is working on a number of long• Continued on A2
Committee visits campus as part of ONLINE accreditation process, offers suggestions By ANTHONY WEINRAUB
WASC “fosters excellence in elementary, secondary, The school received prelim- adult, and post-secondary edinary recommendations from ucation by encouraging school the California Association improvement through a proof Independent Schools and cess of continuing evaluation,” according to their Western Association website. of Schools and Col“[Former Head of lege after representaSchool Jeanne] Huytives visited campus brechts asked me if I from Jan. 28-31 and would be interested in analyzed the school’s being the coordinator 75-page report. for the process, and I History teacher thought it would be Katherine Holmesa pretty interesting Chuba is leading the ’ job because I get exgroup of administraKatherine posure to parts of the tors and faculty memHolmes-Chuba school I don’t often bers coordinating the school’s efforts. She has have,” Holmes-Chuba said. been busy the past couple of “I’ve been a teacher, departmonths, working with depart- ment chair and parent, and ment heads and spearheading this was something new and the more than year-long ac- interesting. I also serve on the creditation process in which board of a different school, so I the CAIS and WASC evaluate wanted to educate myself.” Every secondary school the school and offer areas for improvement. that awards diplomas in CaliWHITE S
fornia must be accredited ev- Faculty Academic Committee, ery six to seven years, and among others. the process is fairly standard“What they ask us to do is ized regardless of type or size respond to a set of questions on of school, Associate Head of institutional purpose and core School Liz Resnick said. values, teaching and learnThe first ing, financial step of the acsustainabilcreditation proity, operations, What they ask cess involves institutional us to do is respond to composing a stewardship self-study on and leadera set of questions on areas adminisship, and iminstitutional purpose trators and facprovements in and core values.” ulty members sustainability,” recognized for —Liz Resnick Resnick said. improvement. we are reAssociate Head of School “So According to sponding to the Resnick, many same questions of these fields were areas al- every school goes through.” ready identified for improveHolmes-Chuba compiled ment in 2015 as part of Presi- the report, which was finished dent Rick Commons’ “Visions last year and edited by memfor 2020” initiative. bers of the English departThe 75-page report on the ment. school included sections filled “There are so many voices out by department heads, the • Continued on A3 athletic coordinators and the
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QUAD TALK: Eli Adler ’18 asks students on the Quad about their second semester workload.
UPCOMING
PANORAMA ISSUE 2: Be sure to check out Panorama Magazine when it comes out next week.