Returning to School in the Presence of Covid-19

Welcome back Norsemen,

Hello Newark and welcome back! It has been a long 6 months being distanced from school, friends, family, and staff. I am so glad we are returning to face to face learning and look forward to seeing all the students in person.

I know these past few months, and months ahead, have presented many of us with numerous challenges. With the social distancing requirements, most of us have had to limit our engagement in social relationships, and have to distanced ourselves from our everyday "normal" life. The changes throughout the last 6 months have been extreme and frequent. Not to mention fluid and ever-changing. With these changes, the unknowns and uncertainties have increased the amount of individuals experiencing depression and anxiety throughout America and worldwide.

Please note the most common symptoms of depression are:
*Change of appetite *Increase or decrease of sleep *Loss of interest in activities *Increase of Isolation
*Feelings of hopelessness/helplessness *Loss of energy or motivation *Persistent sadness without specific "trigger"

Please note the most common symptoms of anxiety are:
*Lack of sleep *Racing thoughts *Feeling excessive worry *Feeling unsafe or impending doom
*Avoidance *Heart palpitation, shaking, or sweating *Shallow breathing *Irritability, restlessness

Again, the provided symptoms are common, however this list is not all inclusive. Meaning you may be experiencing depression and/or anxiety with other symptoms, if you feel you have had a recent change in mood, or are experiencing any of the above symptoms, please consider speaking to your school social worker.

Covid-19 has increased the amount of individuals suffering with depression and anxiety. We have seen tremendous loss both nationally and globally. Our communities have seen significant financial hardship, our families have lost loved ones, we have all experienced grief on some level. Whether it be the loss of a job, school, sports, the ability to freely engage in social activities. We feel restricted, unsure, and at times scared. In general, I have felt a heaviness in the air at times. Feelings of fear, anger, and anxiety. And with the restrictions put in place, we have at times been distanced from our friends and family that would often extend positive support. Please consider reaching out to the social worker for resources, support, or guidance.

Kindly,

Alyssa Olin, MSW, LCSW
School Social Worker
NCHS

St. Baldrick's Event

Hello Norsemen! Last year we participated in our 3rd annual St Baldrick's event where students, staff, and a few community members participated in the head shaving ceremony and raised money for our little warriors battling cancer. St Baldrick's is an organization that donates earned proceeds to help's fund research for cancer treatment, focusing vastly on children. In 2019, we had a goal of $5,000.00 and earned a total of $4,933.00!!!

This year, we have a goal of $6,000.00! I truly believe we as a community can come together with generous hearts to reach this goal. Please find the link below to register to participate. If you have any questions please contact Mrs. Olin!

https://www.stbaldricks.org/events/norsemen2020

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE and the Science Behind It :)

Happy November Norsemen, We are now nearly 3-full-months into our 2018 school year, and I hope you are all adjusting well. I know it has been flying by for me. Last month, I focused on educating students on the “facts” of mental health. During my morning “mindful moments” I shared statistics and factual information on how mental health impacts Americans and how we can approach it as individuals. I was also provided the opportunity to present to the freshmen class on tools and techniques to help cope with stress and develop healthy time-management skills. The students were very respectful and provided insightful feedback. During my time I helped guide them through a form of meditation where we brought awareness to our body and scanned how we were feeling in the present moment. The students reported positive experiences and shared that they felt calm and more prepared to focus after the exercise. Hopefully they will continue to implement this skill into their daily life! Newark High School was gracious enough to send me to a social work conference in October, where I learned about trauma in schools. The information was eye opening, and extremely helpful. With the information I obtained at this conference, I am planning to present to our NCHS staff on how we as a school can approach our students with compassion and empathy, and how we can approach our students with a “trauma lens” to navigate them to success. We all need reminders that every individual has their own story, and these life experiences should be considered in all interactions. For November we will be shifting our focus to GRATITUDE. We will discuss cultivating an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE, and I will be encouraging students and staff to participate in gratitude exercises. Science has recently taken an interest to Gratitude, and the findings are amazing. Through research, it is suggested that gratitude improves the following:

1. Increase happiness and resiliency
2. Decrease depression and anxiety
3. Decrease blood pressure and chronic pain
4. Improve sleep and energy
5. LIVE LONGER WITH HIGHER QUALITY OF LIFE
6. Increase self esteem, compassion, and empathy (which increases relationships with self and others)
7. Gratitude has been shown to “rewire” the brain, increasing the amount of serotonin and dopamine released in the brain, these are the same neurotransmitters produced with anti-depressants (please do not consider replacing your medication with gratitude, just yet, please seek your doctors assistance)
8. Expressing frequent gratitude trains/builds the prefrontal cortex within the brain, which is the area of the brain responsible for retaining positive experiences and deflecting negative ones.

After reading through those 8 positive outcomes and changes after practicing gratitude, I am curious, how do you think adapting an attitude of gratitude can improve your over all life? My challenge for you all is to begin a gratitude journal or activity. The key here is to focus on not just a list, rather an experience. Even more important, this experience must have occurred within the last 24 hours. The purpose of the activity is to shift your focus from those “not so great things” to the positive’s presently occurring. Go ahead and try, research suggest that by doing this for only 2 weeks, you will be on average 9% happier, even if you discontinue the practice. I am grateful for all of you, for my husband who has encouraged and supported me to work in schools, for my children who share their time with me, and for the Newark community for accepting me into their students lives. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving break, and please do not forget the reason for the season. Happy Holidays Newark! Kindly, Mrs. Olin School Social Worker