Upper School Wellness Mini-Courses

“I thought this class would be awkward,” says a sophomore.

It’s no surprise students might feel that way when they see the course title “Healthy Relationships” appear on their St. Luke’s schedule. Taught by Upper School Dean of Students Matt Ward, the Healthy Relationships Mini-Course focuses on positive communication, legal boundaries, safe behavior, and ethical decision making in romantic relationships. For students finishing the three-week Mini-Course, the takeaway was not awkward but appreciative: “I enjoyed the comfortable space discussions” and the class “exceeded my expectations.” One student added, “I am happy we covered the topic of consent because more people should talk about it.”

Discussing things that are awkward or hard to talk about is, in many ways, our most important work as educators. All sophomores have started rotating through five new Wellness Mini-Courses, each one tackling a different hard-to-talk-about topic:

These five Mini-Courses replace the Health and Wellness class students used to take in 10th grade. The new model allows students to take the courses in any sequence that works for them, including over the summer, and never have a Wellness course conflict with an academic one. The Mini-Courses are taught by Camille DeMarco-Havens, Gareth Fancher, Matt Ward, and Matt Bavone.

Students in the Mental Health and Stress Management course recently completed a survey about what they learned from Mr. Fancher. Here’s what they had to say:

It’s not every day we hear a student describe a school requirement with the word “perfect,” so hats off to Mr. Fancher on that one!

The Mini-Course on Drugs & Alcohol provides students with key information about alcohol, marijuana, prescription drug abuse, and illegal drugs. When we asked about their experiences, we heard more of that same theme: students were pleasantly surprised. “Personally,” said one student, “I just viewed it at first as a class I HAD to take. But I actually ended up really enjoying it.”

Some of the most memorable pieces of the old Wellness course have been adapted into the new format. Camille DeMarco-Havens was pleased to welcome officer Shane Gibson to talk with students in her Drugs & Alcohol unit about vaping and other trends in schools. He led a powerful activity where students donned a pair of distorting goggles to simulate driving under the influence in a St. Luke’s golf cart. I have tried on those goggles and I can tell you it’s frightening to imagine getting behind the wheel. Sometimes a simulation is a better teacher than all the facts in the world.

Students in Matt Bavone’s Social Media and Online Safety course reflect on their habits around device use and social media. They discuss topics like digital footprints, sexting, and hurtful posts about others. One of the most interesting recent discussions was about “phubbing,” or using your phone to avoid talking with others in a social setting. Students shared their experiences both phubbing and being phubbed, but also affirmed that there are times when looking something up or using their phones actually enhances the conversation. Mr. Bavone observed, “Though this may seem odd to our generation of non-digital natives, using phones in a social setting is indeed the new norm.”

Finally, students in the Mini-Course on Human Sexuality learned about the importance of decision making. Anyone who knows Ms. DeMarco-Havens knows that she is the perfect instructor for this topic. It takes a caring, candid, and experienced educator to guide students through lessons about sex, the age of consent, communication in relationships, gender and gender identity, HIV and AIDS, and sexually transmitted diseases. We are fortunate to have Ms. DeMarco-Havens in this role.

The five Wellness topics may seem awkward on paper, but students are quickly discovering that it’s engaging--and even empowering--to learn about these issues from adults they trust.