Students Need a Place to De-Stress

By: Brylee Shafer

School is stressful for students. Late nights followed by early mornings, it’s not a great combination. To make matters worse, after two weird COVID years, it seems like this year everything is moving at warp speed in an attempt to get “caught up.” We have had enough.

“I’m so stressed that my hair is falling out,” said sophomore Gracie Richter. 

Now imagine if students had a peaceful place where they could go to relax during the stressful school day. We need a place that’s calm where students can work on assignments or go during down time during the day. 

The school and students would benefit from a student lounge, and it wouldn’t be a huge project for the district. We could rearrange the high school library. Part of the room would keep the tables and chairs for the elementary digital citizenship classes. Then on the other half, we would rearrange the bookshelves and eliminate empty shelf space by combining bookshelves. With the remaining space, we could add a small sofa and a few comfy chairs for students to go to relax and do homework in a calm environment. 

“The library is a natural spot for relaxation for students, and I think they need a calm place where they can destress during the day. It would make a good reading nook for students in the library,” said high school librarian Mrs. Julie Hendricks. 

A comforting, communal space would benefit a wide range of students. Students who have release periods but can’t go home due to the time constraints or weather concerns would have a home base. I am one of these students. With early morning practices on non-block days, I cannot go home for my first period release. Instead of going to get breakfast, wasting gas or just sitting around, I could go and hangout in a lounge where I could spend my time studying or working on assignments. Some students who have 6th period release on block days who don’t live in town cannot really go anywhere for the 6a period because they have to be back for MAP. These students could utilize the lounge as well. 

“During times when I have morning practices or meetings and don’t have enough time to go home, a student lounge would be nice to have, because it would be a place to relax and focus on assignments. I would benefit by using the lounge after school while waiting for practices to start, ” said senior Emma Saathoff. 

Area schools like GICC and Wood River have student lounges in their library with couches and a variety of chairs for students to sit in to do homework or to relax from the stressful school day. It would be nice to have a place to do so in our school. 

“I like their libraries because they give a comfy feel to the school environment and help students get away from desks and chairs. It’s also a nice place to relax from stress in class,” said senior Shaylin Kucera. 

There is a possibility that there could be a lounge in the future for DT, whether it be in the library or in the commons area. No matter where it is, it will be utilized by students and our school experience will benefit. 

“I am actually in the process of creating a lounge space for students. I hope to have it complete for next school year. I think it will be nice to have a space for juniors and seniors to go for their college classes or for their release periods. I also am in favor of creating spaces that are inviting and make students want to be here,” said secondary principal Mrs. Michaela Goracke.