Students found tremendous value in the content of last week’s Upper School Symposium on Teenage Mental Health and Wellness. Addressing a topic of great relevance to the teenage community, the Symposium provided many opportunities for students to learn more about self-care, meditation, positive motivation, and physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Nicole Nolan, History Department Chair and Director of Global Scholars and Community Outreach, led an energetic team of faculty and students who were determined to make this a productive day outside the classroom. The Symposium team included faculty members Dina Congregane, Zoe Bongiovanni, Samantha St. Victor and Ryan Oliveira, and students Aadithya Srinivasan ’24, Amelie Leu ’25, Anushka Dalal ’24, Christian Bacalhau ’23, Emma Herko ’25, Giselle Lee ’23, Heidi Pan ’24, Isabella Rovito ’24, Italia Penevolpe ’25, Raiya Patel ’24, Samson Ajayi ’23, Siddharth Bharadwaj ’24, Sofia Romero ’26 and Vinay Karthik ’25.
“The backbone of any community is the health and wellness of its members, and the foundation of the LA community is its students,” Mrs. Nolan said. “Our students felt strongly that mental health and wellness was one of the most pressing issues in their lives, therefore making it the focus of our year-long development of the Upper School Symposium. Students also had a strong desire to be inclusive, ensuring that there were presentations and activities that all members of the community could feel connected to. Overall, the day was a great success, the student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive!”
“I genuinely enjoyed being a part of this team. Mental health awareness is a cause I am passionate about, and I was happy to share with our school community the importance of this movement. I believe MHA is something everyone should be educated on, as it affects not only us as individuals but also the people we love and care about. Our mental health affects everything we do on a daily basis from our emotional well-being to occupations to interactions, and therefore it should be prioritized as an important aspect of our living and being,” Emma Herko ’25 said.
The daylong event began in the Berry Performing Arts Center with opening remarks from Symposium Committee members and a Community Grounding Activity run by Henna Tailor, Middle School math teacher. Ms. Tailor used sound bowls to relax the audience and set the tone for the day.
Sarika Agarwal, an inspirational speaker from Minding Your Mind, shared the story of her difficult journey to wellness during an enlightening keynote presentation. Ms. Agarwal provided a detailed account of her battle with depression and anxiety and included just the right amount of humor to keep the audience engaged. She answered questions from students and faculty after the keynote.
The day continued with three morning presentation sessions on topics including LGBTQ Resources for Mental Health, Acupuncture Demo and Talk, Athletics Four Pillars: Environment, Motivation, Vision and Identity, Eating Disorders, Signs of Suicide, Social Media and Mental Health, Ending the Silence, and Relationships: The Good, the Bad and the Abusive. Student feedback for the morning sessions was positive and most felt they learned something useful.
After lunch, two afternoon activity sessions provided options including Yoga, Animal Flow, Art, Meditation, Window and Sidewalk Decorating, and Zumba. In many cases, students enjoyed the opportunity to get outside on a beautiful spring day.
“Although I do not have much experience educating others on mental health, the symposium opened my eyes to the importance of my feelings and psychological well-being,” Raiya Patel ’24 said. “My favorite part of the day was yoga and animal flow in the afternoon. Spending time with my peers in a setting other than in the classroom was so refreshing and I hope we have the opportunity to destress with activities like Zumba again!”
The day concluded with a Reflection and Closing Activities in advisory groups. This included an activity called “planting the seeds of your mental health,” a fitting conclusion to the Symposium.
“The mental health symposium was a great success in giving students a mental health break while also educating them on different topics revolving around mental health issues,” Amelie Leu ’24 said. “Feedback from the students leads me to believe that the activities were fun and the presenters were captivating. A lot of work was put into the symposium from students and teachers so I am glad that the students seemed to enjoy it.
“Mental health is definitely a crucial aspect of every person’s life, especially teenagers, and it is so important for us to talk about,” Anushka Dalal ’24 added. “It was great to be able to help plan this special day for the whole Upper School so that we can all work toward ending the stigma of mental health, one voice at a time.”