|
By Aiden Bleier
We’ve all felt unwell in the past, some people have felt even worse for long periods of time. The Wellness Center and therapists have been working together, starting in 2019, to address the mental health issues of FHS’s student body. Mental health assistance is widely accessible throughout Freedom. The most common and mostly used source of mental health assistance is the guidance counselor that students get when they first come to high school. Although some people think that it’s the only way to get mental help, the Wellness Center is planning to expand their operations to make their other resources more available, according to Ms. Diaz Sierra, a member of the Wellness Center. Signing up for this Wellness Center is fairly easy, there are various ways to sign up for the Wellness Center, the main ones are going directly to the Wellness Center, going to your Guidance Counselor, or asking the assistant principal. There’s also a way to sign up for a therapy at Pinebrook, which offers free mental health according to Mrs. Erdman, who is a member of the Wellness Center. The success rates of the Wellness Center are high. Both Mrs. Erdman and Ms. Diaz Sierra have stated that there have been some organizational issues, but they are going to be getting the old planetarium for the Wellness Center this year. As for their activities, they have social emotional learning activities to help with anxiety, vaping, and depression. Although we do have plenty of help with students with mental health issues, like having a desk outside certain classrooms for kids to sit at and calm down, we do not have as much help as the Department of Education specifies that people have the ability to get more help from the Department of Education because of their 24/7 education on mental health along with mental health help for those who need it.
0 Comments
By Cielo McClendon
Autumn is arriving. Your mind, body, and spirit may still be stuck in summer. Fall is a comfort season filled with lots of coziness, peace, and happiness. With the color-changing leaves, drastic weather changes, and eventful holidays, this time of year could get crazy. Although, there are some bright sides to this season and it is important to make the most of it. Are you prepared for autumn? To prepare for autumn mentally, here are some ideas:
There are plenty of ways to prepare for autumn physically. Warming up in a cozy or comfortable sweater or hoodie is very beneficial. You can wear one at home, to school, when you're cold, it is the perfect necessity that is much needed for fall. Decorating your home for the upcoming holiday season is not only a great activity to do with friends and family, it can help your mind get in the festive mood. Carving pumpkins and making pumpkin pie, putting up the scarecrows on the lawn, making pumpkin spiced lattes, dressing up for Halloween, and preparing Thanksgiving dinner are also fun activities to get into the fall spirit. Have nothing to do after school? Join a club to stay occupied or a sport to keep yourself active. You get 15 hours of community service as well! Here is a list of clubs that you can join at any time:
Emotionally, you can clean your room or a messy area in your household. This contributes to your mental health and makes you feel better about yourself. Sleeping in a warm, clean bed can prevent you from losing any sleep. Maintaining a consistent after school or after work routine could make you happier and be more organized. Meditating can help with depression and calm your emotions when you're upset or mad. Meditating could also keep your mind and body on the same page in an emotionally productive way. Preparing for autumn in any way is easy. It is a chaotic and mentally challenging season with many bright sides. If anything becomes hard or overwhelming, take a step back and remember why you are here. It’s not always going to be easy but there are people here for you. Autumn is enjoyable; don’t waste a second of this beautiful season. By Madilyn Loper
The sadness and unwillingness to get out of bed during the holiday season may not be just laziness or mood swings, it might be seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), more commonly known as seasonal depression, is a type of depression that is related to changes in the seasons. (Why have seasonal depression when you can have it all year round?) Seasonal affective disorder will start and end around the same time annually and in most cases start in the fall and continue into the winter months. People affected by this order may feel moody, irritable, or fatigued. Seasonal affective disorder/ depression or anxiety can have large tolls on teens and young adults, affecting their performance in school. Depression can negatively impact their ability to learn and enjoy time in school and if ignored, it can lead to social and behavioral problems, poor learning skills, neglected hygiene, and low self esteem; unpredictable behavior is often a sign of anxiety and/or depression. My classmate, Cielo McClendon, said, “I notice I start to get more depressed during fall. It might be because of the weather, work, and school.” According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 34% of students experience depression. In 2017, 1-in-5 teenage girls (13%) and 7% of teenage boys had experienced at least one major depressive episode. The rates of anxiety and depression have risen since then, especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying this can be difficult because the way these disorders appear differ from person to person. There are ways to treat seasonal affective disorder on your own at home. First, talk to a doctor or therapist; they can sort out whether its seasonal affective disorder or a different type of depression and can prescribe antidepressants. To treat chemical imbalances like depression, you need to do more than just take medication. Spending time with people can help in the treatment process. “Get off your phones and spend time with your friends in real life. Isolating yourself is the worst thing you could do,” a local therapist said. You can participate in activities that improve your mood – for example, going out to a place like the mall or the movies or joining after-school activities like AEVIDUM to keep yourself busy. Freedom High School has an AEVIDUM club created to empower students to talk about mental health, suicide, and other issues that teens/youth face. It strives to create healthy communities where everyone is accepted, acknowledged, and cared for in schools. The advisor is Mrs. Schmidt and the meetings are held weekly, and they include fun games, snacks, and planning for field trips and conferences. You can also try bright light therapy which is exposure to artificial light; you can try light therapy by purchasing a light therapy box. Vitamin D is a critical component to recovering from depression. Overall, take care of yourself, try keeping a journal, and make sure you spend time with your friends and family because recovering is a little bit easier with the support of your loved ones. 10/20/2022 Defending District Champs: Tight race in the beginning, who will come out on top?Read NowBy Zeyad Ragab
EPC football kicked off this year on August 27th. It was a little bumpy for Freedom, the defending District champs, after losing 19-13 against Emmaus in the home opener. However, the Pates have a big bounce-back game. Week 2 kicked off against Easton, and Freedom won 33-20. Week 3 was against powerhouse Parkland, who had just come off a loss against Nazareth the week before. Unfortunately Parkland comes out with a close 21-13 win against Freedom. Coming into Week 4, we saw the biggest matchup Freedom faced since hitting the field in Week 1. They faced Nazareth who was undefeated, 3-0. The Patriots slugged it out the whole game with both teams scoring back and forth. Before halftime Prajeet Santra hit a 26 yards field goal to get the Pates up by three going into the half. In the second half, Freedom and Nazareth continued going back and forth scoring and the Pats prevailed, winning 45-35. At this point the Freedom Pates were 2-2 going on to the next week's match up against Central Catholic, who were 3-1. The Pates were hot going into this intense contest. After a scoreless first quarter, Freedom scored the first points in the game. The game ended with a great Freedom win, 33-14 and their record improved to 3-2, while Central dropped down to 3-2. The Patriots went on to play Allen, who were currently on a losing streak at 0-5. Freedom, after beating Nazareth and Allentown Central Catholic, were pumped up to get another win over the struggling Allen team. With a score of 33-0 at the end of the half, the Pates scored a quick touchdown at the start of the third quarter. Head Coach Jason Roeder put in the young players for the rest of the game. The score came out to be 46-0, making the Pates record go up at 4-2. Now onto Week 7, the Pates were on a three-game winning streak. They faced another tough task in playing the Whitehall Zephyrs. Whitehall were coming off a big win against Parkland and feeling very confident, but the first half didn’t go as expected for them. It was 21-10 going into the half. Then in the third quarter the Pates scored a touchdown but a missed PAT makes the score 27-10. Whitehall was scoreless in the third, and finally scored in the fourth, making it 27-17, but it was too late as the Pates scored another touchdown to make it 33-17 with a missed PAT. Freedom improves to 5-2 on the year, and Whitehall drops to 5-3. Most recently, the Pates headed to the mountains to play a confident Pleasant Valley team. The Bears came into the game 5-3. Going into the half, the Patriots were up 28-0. From there, they just ruined the Pleasant Valley team, beating them 49-0. This improves Freedom's record to 6-2 with a five-game winning streak. The regular season ends with what we have all been waiting for, the city games. Bethlehem Catholic heading into their game with Freedom had already beaten Liberty to make them one step closer to the title of being city champs. The Golden Hawks headed into that game at 4-4, while the Pates were at 6-2. To end the regular season, the Patriots go on to face Liberty in Week 10. This is going to be an action-packed game, the biggest in the Lehigh Valley, with hundreds of people in attendance. Our Freedom student body is hoping this huge game will be a repeat of last year, when the score was 28-13 in favor of Freedom. As the season winds down for the Patriots, they will be going into the District playoffs. Last year’s Freedom team went 11-3 overall. They were on a nine-game winning streak until playing powerhouse state team St. Joe's Prep. St. Joe’s prevailed but the Pates gave them a hard time, with a dramatic ending when Ethan Niedig scored an important touchdown thrown by Brian Taylor to make it a 24-21. This year, Freedom has the momentum to could go even further. By Phoebe Cunningham
Are students being left in the dark about how to dive into adulting? At FHS, there are many different electives that students can take, such as personal finance and an abundance of math classes, but some teachers believe that a class in finances should be mandatory. When asked in a survey about their views of personal finance and whether it should be mandatory at FHS, Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Santini agreed that a finance class should be mandatory for upperclassmen, in addition to the seminar classes for 9th and 10th graders. Both of these teachers did not have a finance class offered when they were in high school, but they wish that it would have been offered because they found themselves confused when it came to life insurance, retirement planning, and buying a house. When asked if they believe that students, specifically at Freedom, have a good understanding of how to manage money in their adult lives, both Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Santini were united in their opinion that most students are not prepared, especially if they do not enroll in schooling after high school. Senior student Allison Makula says that she does not feel prepared to pay taxes and bills after she graduates. There are some schools across the country that do require financial based courses such as Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa, and Utah. However, most schools incorporate that into their freshman and sophomore seminar classes. Based on the opinions of Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Santini, high school students should be more prepared when they are launched into adulting. Do you think that you are prepared to pay taxes, manage money, buy a house, and to retire? At 16, most students can say that they probably are not. However, a class that focuses on these subjects might make students more prepared. By Catelin Schwoerer
Students at Freedom High School seem to enjoy their creative electives during school. The thrill of doing something they are passionate about keeps them energized and motivated throughout the day. “[Artistic classes] provide a sense of inspiration and freedom,” a student in Studio Art 1 said. “I think creative electives can help bring out one’s talents in art, music, etc. They give me a break from other intensive classes that I have in the day,” a student in Music Production said. Not only do students get enjoyment out of these classes, but they can also notice academic attributes from them. A study conducted by Tamlin S. Conner with 658 university students found that people who engage in a creative activity once a day are happier than those who do not. Their skill in this area does not affect this, either. They reap the benefits even if they are not successful at the activity. The researchers of this study confirm that these findings support “everyday creativity as a means of cultivating positive psychological functioning.” Artistic expression has also been shown to reduce the symptoms of anxiety. Another study of university students shows that after engaging in a creative activity, the anxiety levels of those students decreased. Researchers from UCLA found that students with high arts involvement performed better on standardized tests than those who were not involved heavily in the arts. Students highly involved in the arts also watched less television, engaged in more community service, and were less bored in school. A study conducted by Kathryn Vaughn and Ellen Winner also showed that the more years that students engaged in the arts, the higher their SAT scores turned out to be. The data showed a linear pattern, with students who have taken 4 or more years of art classes having the highest scores. Even knowing this information, art classes are becoming less of an option for students nationwide. When the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB Act) was passed, it put more focus on core subjects including math, reading, science, and social studies. Schools put more funding into these subjects since they require standardized testing— increasing the budget would raise those scores. With funds raised for these classes, the budget for art classes with supplies required got cut first. This led to a drastic decrease in arts opportunities in schools throughout the U.S. Here at Freedom, we have many artistic electives for students to choose from, ranging from Studio Art to Clothing Creation to Voice Class. Seeing all of the benefits that derive from them, it is important that we keep our elective diversity wide at Freedom. The variety should not be declining in schools across the U.S.— more should be done to keep these valuable classes accessible to students. By Jonathon Chiu
The ringing of an incoming call, the ding of a text message being received, the buzzing of a phone vibrating: these are common occurrences for users of cellphones and ones that can be potentially distracting from the lessons taught in school. At the start of this school year, a group of staff members decided to implement a phone plan with students being required to place them into designated bags to better their concentration on a teacher's lessons. Members of the faculty have expressed their support for the phone plan and its mission, with this support even coming from those who were originally skeptical of it. “I was extremely sceptic at first, but it's won me over,” said Mr. Kraft, a US Government & Economics and German language teacher, “I think the policy accomplishes its primary goal of improving student focus, but I have definitely noticed improvements in the hallway as well. I've also been in open dialogue with the students about how, contrary to my original opinion, the phone policy has been a huge improvement.” A survey sent to a group of 46 students somewhat supports Mr. Kraft’s statement, as 13 students said that not having their phone in view helped them to have an increased attention span while in class. Some teachers have also been in dialogue with their students and have made adjustments to how they implement the plan as a result such as adding breaks in between lessons, allowing phone usage for pressing matters. “If students have an emergency or issue, they can communicate [with] me and I make exceptions from time to time,” said Mr. Dunstan, an English Language Arts teacher. Many students have expressed their dissatisfaction towards the phone plan as well, with 14 students who participated in the survey, when asked to rate the plan from a scale of 1 to 10, gave it a rating of 1, with a senior who voted with the group calling the plan “kinda dumb.” Despite the 13 students who did say they saw improvements in their attentiveness towards lessons when their phone was not in view, there were 24 participants who said they had seen no change. Meanwhile, eight of the 46 participants said they saw a lack of improvement in their attention spans. “No one follows the phone plan.” said a junior who participated in the survey, “not many teachers get so mad about it.” While students and staff at Freedom may have differing views on the phone plan for various reasons, it is more lenient when compared to similar plans implemented in other school districts, with the Pittsburgh and Penn Hills school districts distributing “Yondr pouches” equipped with magnetic locks that students must place their phones in until the end of the school day. Middle schools in the BASD such as East Hills also allowed students to have their phones out when the teacher was not instructing, but would be taken away if they were too much of a distraction. These are two of the various directions that Freedom can take in the evolution of the phone plan, with the reactions of both students and faculty being just as unpredictable. |
RSS Feed
