Since the second semester, Mrs. Pastrick and Mrs. Quiroz have put together Warrior Health and Wellness. Their mission was to focus on the mental health of the students, who have tremendously been affected by the pandemic. It occurs on every other Wednesday during SRT and usually takes fifteen to twenty minutes, discussing topics that aren’t regularly discussed.

Each week is a new topic and it zeros in on the health of high school students that’s often neglected. A few topics have been cyber bullying and mental health. There have been guest speakers who come and tell their stories and give presentations.

Although the effort is appreciated, some students would rather spend their SRT listening to music and getting in late work, instead of listening to the presentations. 

“Usually I use my SRT to get work done for my Mass Media class because I don’t always have the class time to finish,” said senior Richelle Mallory.. “So these wellness Wednesday’s have been uninteresting for me because they discuss topics I’ve heard before. It’s also not very engaging, it’s like being in another class and I’d rather just have SRT to relax and get done what I need to.”

On the other hand, other students prefer these Wednesday’s because some topics they’ve considered to be uncomfortable to talk about. 

“Since we’re in there I have no choice but to focus and listen to the presentation,” said senior Ahmad Artis. “Sometimes I am bored but I often find what they say to be interesting, especially when they’re telling personal stories like the mental health presentation with Nicki as the guest speaker. It was relatable and real instead of someone just spitting information at me.” 

After about eighteen months of school closures and social isolation, all BNI students are back together in the classrooms. The grief, anxiety, and depression children have experienced during the pandemic is affecting their lives to this day. Specifically, the freshman and sophomore classes have been affected the most because of this school year being their first back in the building with all of their peers since they were in middle school. 

“Coming in freshman year it was weird because I had this image of what high school was supposed to look like but COVID changed everything,” said freshman Icesis Thomas. This most recent SRT has been my favorite because it made me laugh with Mr. Carioto having a duplicate of himself and now even getting a little laugh in helps me.”