Challenge Success

@ WHS

Newsletter No 2 - Spring 2019

CS@WHS and Principal Chisum....Coffee in a "Fishbowl" on March 29th

The Challenge Success student team will be hosting a "Fishbowl" moderated discussion with a diverse cross section of current WHS students during the monthly Principal's Coffee on 3/29.

The Fishbowl format offers a unique opportunity for parents to listen in as a small group of students share their experiences and feelings on a variety of topics agreed to prior to the session. Students sit in the center of a circle and weigh in on the issues that concern them most at the school and ways to make effective changes, while parents sit in the outer circle listening silently. After the session, the adults participate in a debrief to discuss reactions and ideas for future school changes.

The questions to be discussed might include:

When you are on your way to school on a Monday morning, what are the three adjectives that describe your state of mind or how you are feeling?
What is one of the most challenging aspects of performing well academically here?
What do you wish the adults in this community really understood about the challenges of being a good student here?
Have you had to (or felt that you will have to) give up something you love in order to stay on top of the workload or handle the pressure here?
If you were a parent, what is the number one thing you'd try to help alleviate student stress?
What do you think our school teaches students about dealing with failures?
How do you define success?

Newsletter Nº 1 - Fall 2018

Welcome back!

Dear Families,

Fall is a time for new beginnings, and in keeping with our mission to help the entire WHS community by promoting a broader definition of success, reducing unhealthy pressures and demands, and helping students build resilience and achieve balance, we offer you our first newsletter.

This year, we'll be working on helping our community achieve balance. Through the advisory program, as well as through larger school events, we'll challenge students, parents, and educators to consider what healthy balance looks like in three areas - sleep, technology, and workload.

Whether it's finding new ways to add family time to your busy life or squeeze in a little more sleep (did you know teenagers need 9 1/4 hours per night to be their best selves?), we hope you'll find something here to help start your year off right.

Here's to a healthy balance!

The Challenge Success @ WHS team

Achieving Balance: Good reads to start your school year

How to make stress your friend

Students watched this TED Talk during advisory the first week of school.

Secrets of a Lost Girl (Boston Globe)

Parents share the journal of a daughter lost to suicide. She showed every sign of "success", but her journal tells a different story.

The Perils of Pushing Kids Too Hard, And How Parents Can Learn to Back Off (NPR)

Top 10 Back-To-School Tips to Help Your Child Thrive (Challenge Success)

How to Be Better at Stress (NYT)

What If All I Want For My Kids Is An Ordinary Life

All Stress is Not Distress (Challenge Success)

Isn't some stress okay? When does stress become distress? How can we help our kids avoid unhealthy stress in order to find balance?

And Most of All - Be Kind (Challenge Success)

The advice people most wish they had heard at 18.

Fall 2018 Program Highlights

The new school year is off to a great start with a revised 9th grade orientation and opening week schedule designed to allow for community building time and introduce the Challenge Success theme for the year: Achieving Balance. During the year, students will learn more about achieving balance in the areas of workload, sleep, and technology. Ask your students what they've learned so far.

Achieving Balance banner in the entryway at WHS.

Knowing CS@WHS's 2018-19 theme of "achieving balance"can get you a popsicle!

Spring 2018 Program Highlights

Students (and administrators!) enjoyed a break with Barn Babies. Thanks to the PTSO for generously supporting this popular annual Challenge Success event. Photos by Nichole Bernier.

Check out WHSChallengeSuccess on Instagram to see more great pictures of kids enjoying CS@WHS activities

Challenge Success Initiatives at WHS have been generously supported by the Wellesley Education Foundation, Wellesley High School’s PTSO, The Wellesley Youth Commission, Community Investors, Wellesley Recreation, and a private donor.

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