Launching Wellness Hubs to Cultivate Students' Emotional Health, Well-Being, & Belonging

Outline

Introduction to WellSpaces (15 minutes): Explore the urgent need for wellness hubs as a philosophy and methodology in high-pressure secondary educational environments to increase student well-being, engagement in school, and sense of belonging.
The audience will engage in conversations to identify local data or needed data to support the identification of strengths and needs related to student social-emotional health. Presenters will clarify the what and why of “WellSpaces” including the theory and application of school resource hubs and how they provide a core structure to enhance students’ social, emotional, and mental health radiating into school culture and climate.

Partnership with Challenge Success and Elevating Student Voices (10 minutes): Highlight the collaboration with Challenge Success, an organization that partners with schools to elevate student voices within the school community, center school reforms through an equity lens, and support evidence-based reform that enhances student agency and autonomy and a personalized definition of success.

Practical Strategies for Attendees (15 minutes): Equip participants with tools for advocating wellness centers and mobilizing resources. Through group discussion, audience members will explore local strengths and opportunities, as well as develop a plan to challenge roadblocks and barriers to implementing WellSpace programs.

Q&A and Audience Discussions on Local Context and Potential Strategies for Implementing WellSpaces. (20 minutes): Provide a step-by-step guide for building a community of support to establish WellSpaces and discuss key metrics for evaluating success and capturing student voice, and will share a model example of a successful implementation process.

Supporting research

Press Release: LBHS Well Space (LBHS, 2023): https://www.lbusd.org/resources/news-archive/individual-news-posts/~board/news/post/laguna-beach-high-school-introduces-its-brand-new-well-space

Making Time for Well-Being (ASCD, 2022):
https://ascd.org/el/articles/making-time-for-well-being

Kids Under Pressure (Challenge Success & NBC News, 2021): https://challengesuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CS-NBC-Study-Kids-Under-Pressure-PUBLISHED.pdf?_gl=1*p23nt*_ga*MjEwNzkzNjY4OC4xNzE2MzIwNzY1*_ga_Z0WFKPJVWC*MTcyNjc3ODkzNy4zMC4xLjE3MjY3Nzk4MDQuMzcuMC4w&_ga=2.29922236.2057063889.1726778938-2107936688.1716320765

Challenge Success School District Impact Case Study 2018-22: https://challengesuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/School-District-Impact-Case-Study-Spring-2023-2.pdf

Challenge Success Student Voice Report (2024):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dwABDF_xbsTkeQG9VTof3gp1E_mtXzDr/view?usp=sharing

Orange County Wellspace Project:
https://ocde.us/EducationalServices/iss/swc/Pages/OCWP.aspx