Remote learning has brought hours of screen-time, constant changes in schedule and sometimes devastating isolation. The high school, like so many communities, is fighting to combat the COVID-19 pandemic while also placing an emphasis on physical and mental health.

Social worker Paul Epstein has been working to support students through one-on-one counseling. This year, he said he has noticed a dramatic difference in students’ social activity.

“It’s been a whole different type of school year. Obviously, combating the isolation that comes with remote and hybrid schooling is a heavy task. We’re all dealing with it,” Epstein said. “I think the whole gamut of ages, from preschoolers to senior citizens, everyone’s dealing with the increased isolation and lack of social connectedness.”

According to Epstein, social interaction is especially vital for teenagers’ mental health and their future.

“You’re in a developmental life stage, where social interaction is like oxygen. You need it, it’s part of your task of forming your personality, and then figuring out who you are as an adult, who you want to associate with. Being around kids and being social is just a necessary part of the teenage years,” Epstein said.

To try to combat the mental health challenges from remote learning, the high school has been using advisories to give students time to think about their mental health. Spanish teacher Kevin Whitehead is an advisor for JR14. He said his advisory values their mindfulness activities.

“We work mindfulness into each advisory. So we take a few minutes and typically use a video from Headspace, which our advisory has lovingly named ‘Our Boy Andy From Headspace,’” Whitehead said. “We’re big fans, at least I am. Those are kind of some of the things we do, just giving the kids a space to share out any struggles or celebrate anything going well,” Whitehead said.

Keith Thomas, a health and wellness teacher, has been working to keep students active despite the isolation. Like Whitehead, Thomas has found that activities on screens are not always the most helpful.

“Any opportunity you have to get off the screen to get outside and move, that’s what I suggest doing. We can’t forget about the mental aspect of this,” Thomas said.

Whitehead said that while he feels good about the work advisories are doing, there are challenges.

“There’s so many forces pulling on the advisories and we only have about 30 minutes. The other day, my juniors were pulled out for an assembly by the guidance counselors to talk about college, which is super important. But that takes up time. The environmental lessons we’ve been doing, while incredibly important, take up time,” Whitehead said.

Thomas has been teaching health and wellness since 1997. He said his job has changed a lot this year, but the students’ needs have changed as well.

“Content has changed because we don’t have a facility. People are at home, they don’t have access to our equipment. And also, because of protocols, we can’t use all of our spaces like the fitness center,” Thomas said. “So our focus had to be on movement. How do we get movement for not just people that go to the class, but also people at home? Where could we all do the same thing?”

This year has shown many teachers the importance of mental and physical health, and many said they are looking forward to using this year’s wellness strategies even when remote learning ends.

“Humans are not supposed to focus on one thing for 80 minutes straight. You lose attention and go up and down. So if you can put a break in that learning episode, when you get back to the next one, you are more primed and ready to continue learning. It’s important, and I’d like to see it implemented when life goes back to normal,” Whitehead said.