| Wellness
day held April 11
Kelly from the Boys and Girls club in the Lewis-Clark Valley gave a presentation on Alternative Activities to Drugs and Alcohol. He emphasized the importance of making positive choices and being mindful of our actions. The choices we make affect our life in many ways down the road either positively or negatively. Kelly started with an activity to help us be aware of the characteristics of people that we found made an influential impact on our lives. He then opened the door for self-reflection on our own lives and gave us time to think about ourselves and what we are good at. After identifying our strengths, we focused on areas in our lives that we could improve and set specific actions to help us achieve our goals. Kelly’s main point included surrounding ourselves with good people. No Means Know; Nelly, Alaina, and Kristy, YWCA Nelly, Alaina, and Kristy, who are advocates of the YWCA gave a presentation on understanding the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. They started with an activity called Fold the Line and had us answer questions and share our thoughts on the topic with a classmate. One of the questions was “Can you choose how others treat you?” The common response was no, but you can choose how you want to be treated and surround yourself with people who treat you well. Nelly and Kristy shared that the 8 characteristics to a healthy relationship are respect, safety, support, individuality, equality, acceptance, trust and communication. With this in mind, we discussed the things that we found as healthy and unhealthy in relationships based on what we see, hear and feel. Physical Yoga; Deanna English Deanna English gave a presentation on stress and yoga. She began with sharing that stress stems from the way we interpret and perceive stressors in our lives. We were informed that we need stress in our lives to protect us when we are in situations of danger. However, when we become overwhelmed with modern day life factors we experience stress. A big part of this is self-regulation; we learned that we are in charge of our mind and perceptions and can choose our reaction and response to a difficult situation. The next part of the presentation focused on the health benefits of yoga. Yoga helps improve flexibility, strength, posture, breathing, concentration and certain medical conditions. The last part of the presentation focused on the health benefits of yoga. Yoga helps improve flexibility, strength, posture, breathing, concentration and certain medical conditions. This helps stimulate a relaxation response that provides the opposite effect of the stress response. She then ended the class by having us participate in a few yoga techniques and moves to help us gain awareness of our body. Dental Health; Dr. Brad Schaff, Mountain View Dentistry Dr. Brad Schaff did a presentation on dental hygiene. He let us know that some dental health is genetic and cannot be controlled. He recommends brushing twice a day and flossing once a day. Dr. Schaff really stressed to fix the problem before it hurts. That means going to regular check-ups and cleaning your teeth properly. He mentioned that as a dentist, he can determine a lot of diseases such as HIV, anemia, diabetes, drug addiction, and eating disorders just by looking in the mouth. Dr. Schaff claims that dental health can indicate a person’s all over health. He brings it all down to choices: the choice to brush your teeth, the choice to be healthy. Eating Disorders; Tammy Everson, Camas Professional Counseling Tammy Everson gave her presentation on eating disorders and the reasons behind them. She indicated that there are three causes: psychological, interpersonal, and biological. All of these causes lead to misperceptions of the body and the need for control. The three main eating disorders are anorexia, binge eating, and bulimia. Mrs. Everson went into detail on the disorders’ causes and effects on the body. A lot of the symptoms are noticeable. She encouraged us to help others and not put them down. Much of the cause behind eating disorders is psychological, and ridicule feeds that. Cpl. Lebowski, Deputy Kantner, and Officer Terry Cochran This session was the most exciting for the students because it was all about drug dogs. Cpl. Lebowsiki talked about his dog, Falcon, and how he trains him. Drug dogs are considered law officers, so any abuse to them is taken very seriously. Drug dogs have to go through tough certification every 14 months. A drug search has to either take place during the duration of a normal traffic stop or with a search warrant. Cpl. Lebowski kept mentioning that most dogs have the ability to be a drug dog as long as they have the drive for it. We were able to witness the dog at work as he searched for two bags hidden in the room. He was able find both bags within five minutes! Officer Cantner and his dog, Waylon, presented for the sessions in the afternoon. Kameron Manley, Idaho Youth Ranch Kameron Manley works with youth who have been involved with drugs and alcohol and want help. Alcohol kills more teenagers than any other drug. He told us that 11,000 people died from drunk driving accidents in one year. Drugs and alcohol can kill you by using them, but they can also kill you quitting them too abruptly. Mr. Manley helps these kids get on the right track safely. He mentioned that drugs and alcohol affects relationships, health, school, and job eligibility. Some of the kids in this program wrote letters about their experience and allowed for them to be read to us. The letters were really a nice touch to put a sense of reality back into the matter. 
Several scenes from the Wellness Day. Photos provided by Krystal Ellis |
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