Recently, MECA had their first ever Wellness Festival, and let’s just say it was a great hit for not only students but for our community. The evening was filled with laughter and great performances from our dance team and music club. This was both groups’  second time performing for our school and they did a great job!

Mental health is something very important that a lot of students feel ashamed to talk about. That is why our wellness counselor, Ms. Jasmine DeHaro, got the idea to have a Wellness Festival. 

“It’s really about promoting well being and breaking the stigma of mental health in general,” DeHaro explains.She wanted to be able to “kick off” the new Wellness Center that was granted to our school.

The Wellness Festival had many different activities and stations to explore from to see what helped students the best.It was great to see a variety of activities that could be used for coping mechanisms.

“We had some clubs making slime, another club doing stress balls, 2 different clubs making bracelets, a bubble station, [and] some students were doing chalk art,” Deharo expresses.

Not only did we have stations and activities, we also had MECA’s first ever dance team and band perform. The band members were excited to be able to play new songs after making their debut at fall fest. Members of the music club wanted to be able to show how music can help people support their emotional well being. 

“I do wish to make a difference with the music we play, even if it just shows people how we deal with our mental wellness, through doing what we love,” senior Angel Rodriguez, bass player in Music Club, commemorates. 

He was glad he was able to enjoy playing music with his friend and being able to make these memories in his last year of high school. 

“I hope we have more opportunities to play in the future,” he adds. 

MECA’s Dance and Cheer (D/C) team also debuted at the festival, performing their Pom Pom routine to Ariana Grande’s One Last Time. Members of the team mentioned how hard they had worked for that performance because they wanted to make the festival more welcoming and wanted to make a good impression in the community.

“The team handed out little cards with encouraging words and phrases we made the day before,” noted junior Annika Wotherspoon. “And handing them out and seeing the joy on people’s faces was unforgettable.”

For being our school’s first Wellness Festival, it definitely was a hit. From students, to families, to even just people in our community, people got to gather around and take note of how important their mental health really is. 

“I think that students really enjoyed it, I’m hoping it would stay, I’m hoping that next year we could do it again and make it even bigger,” Deharo concludes.