Wellness Centers Serve Hart District Students

By Michele E. Buttelman

Signal Staff Writer

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the William S. Hart Union School District Wellness Centers were designed to support the mental health, well-being, self-advocacy and educational outcomes of the district’s student population of 20,800 students.

In 2019, the Hart District governing board launched two pilot wellness centers. One was at Canyon High School and the other at West Ranch High School.

Sarah Gilberts, LCSW, and the district’s wellness coordinator, took on the task of launching the Caring 4 Cowboys Canyon Wellness Center at Canyon High.

“We wanted to create a safe environment on campus where students can drop in before school, at brunch, or lunch or after school,” she said. “There’s a water feature in the room, we play relaxing meditative music, it looks nothing like a classroom. It’s a place where students can just drop in and de-stress. There’s a counselor/social worker in the room and they can reach out to for professional support if they need it.”

While Canyon was the first of the district’s 15 wellness centers to launch in August of 2019, Golden Valley High School’s Growl Wellness Center was the last to become operational in August of 2021.

All Hart District high schools and junior highs now have wellness programs in place said Gilberts.

“We are trying to communicate the message that everyone struggles at some time in their life,” she said. “We want students to know it’s okay and it’s okay to not be okay. They need to know that they aren’t alone, they can reach out.”

Gilberts said it is important to overcome the stigma of mental illness that still exists.

Since January to April 30, 2022 the wellness centers in the district have seen 30,635 student visits.

At Canyon High School, with a student population just shy of 2,000 students, the month of March saw a total of 2, 099 visits at the drop-in center and the amount of counseling support provided was 287 visits. ture. It’s nothing like a classroom.”

The Caring 4 Cowboys Canyon Wellness Center at Canyon High features meditative music and a water feature. Students can just drop in and de-stress, according to William S. Hart Union School District wellness coordinator Sarah Gilberts. PHOTOS COURTESY SARAH GILBERTS

What is a Wellness Center?

The Hart District Wellness Centers have a large menu of services available to students including a safe space to practice self-care with stress and anxiety resources, grief resources, trauma and recovery resources, individual and group therapy, support/empowerment groups, case management, referrals to community resources, workshops, presentations, drop-in support, parent education, crisis intervention and assessment of basic school needs.

Student Involvement

Students have played a large role in the creation of each school’s wellness center, said Gilberts.

“Each school determines what they want their wellness center to be,” she said. “It’s their room, their space. Canyon High wanted a very nice living room, a spa/living room. We have two L-shaped couches to help cultivate relationships, we play games, we have a table for arts and crafts, a fireplace, water fountain feacounter,” she said.

Many students just need a quiet place to “re-center,” Navia said.

“They just want a quiet safe space. They feel they have a lot going on and they are tired of talking.”

The Growl Center features a wall of falling water, calming music and stations where students can color or play with kinetic sand or other fidgets.

Growl Center

Maryann Navia, the wellness counselor for the Growl Center at Golden Valley, said peer counselors are an important part of the center.

“Peer counselors have taken a peer counseling class to learn how to listen and how to handle the different crises or emergencies they might en-

See WELLNESS, page 21

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