THUNDER BAY – Stress relief at any age can sometimes just be a smile away.
Grade 11 St. Ignatius High School students wanted to help ensure a happy and care-free world for some of their younger, elementary school-aged counterparts. So the high school students made their way to Our Lady of Charity elementary school Thursday morning with a variety of planned activities for their Project Smile initiative.
St. Ignatius students in the Introduction to Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology class have been working on the special assignment for months leading up to Thursday’s event.
"We are hoping that Project Smile will instill lifelong coping mechanisms to deal with stress, anxiety and pressure in their daily lives,” said Grade 11 student Spencer Reynold. “I mean, no matter if they are ten years old or 30 years old, hopefully this will teach them ways to deal with stress and anxiety."
The high school students have been researching stressors, anxieties and the pressures that could be experienced by students in Grades 3 to 6 resulting from factors such as school studies, extra-curricular activities, friends and social media.
Their objective was to create activities that will teach the students to cope with these stressors.
The high school students have learned through their research that even younger students and children may lack carefree and happy lives. Despite their ages, young children can feel and react to stress in the same way adults.
Those feelings lead to symptoms, like mood swings, acting out, changes in sleep patterns, trouble concentrating or becoming withdrawn.
Just like adults, children need to recognize these symptoms and they need to learn coping strategies.
The students from St. Ignatius have developed eight different stations with a variety of activities that were related to stress relief.
The students spent the morning demonstrating proper breathing techniques, stretches and many different techniques to exercise and relax the brain.
