Westfield HS Freshman Learning To Cope With Loss

WESTFIELD, NJ — While Westfield High School students certainly know how to win, the school’s health educators want them to be prepared for loss as well. Understanding the strain that entering high school could have on teenagers, the WHS Health Department continues to build on its support program for students.

In addition to a transition program arranged by the WHS Counseling Department, the Health Department and the school’s new peer support program called “The Guy & Girl Thing Hangout” invited the entire freshman class to learn lessons about loss and supporting one another through life’s challenges. The most recent presentation featured guest speaker Connie Palmer, LCSW, Training Director at Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss.

Student facilitators presented alongside Ms. Palmer by sharing their personal stories of loss, including the loss of parents and friends, divorce, moving, injuries, and more. They spoke about what the effects of their losses were and what was and wasn’t helpful to them in their grief journey. The students learned that simply being present and listening with an empathetic heart can make all the difference to a grieving friend or loved one.

When asked about his experience sharing his story, WHS senior Trevor Koleszarik said, “When I shared it, I felt like I was the person I was meant to be. I didn’t have to wear a mask and people listened to me. I want everyone to feel that way. I want them to know that it’s okay to cry and to feel upset because without those emotions you wouldn’t really be living life. So it’s okay to take off your mask.”

According to Superintendent of Schools, Margaret Dolan, “One of the goals in the district’s strategic plan for 2016-2021 is to ‘Foster a Culture of Health and Wellness.’ Two specific steps to achieve this goal are to ‘encourage coping skills and resiliency’ and ‘partner with mental health community resources’.”

“Our peer support programs, in collaboration with outside resources, help to fulfill these goals for the benefit of our students and their families,” added Dr. Dolan.

Susan Kolesar, a health educator at Westfield High School and founder of the “The Guy & Girl Thing Hangout”, regards the most recent presentation as a perfect example of this plan coming to fruition. Kolesar said, “We all have losses, and developing healthy coping skills is not only vital to students’ physical and mental health, but to their academic success as well.”

“It is well known that Westfield has excellent academic, athletic, and arts programs for its students,” continued Kolesar. “Now they are fast becoming leaders in making student health and wellness a top priority by adding to some already great programs such as the long-standing Transition Project, a peer education program that strives to help freshmen make a successful adjustment to WHS by making healthy decisions in their relationships and in the way they use time and balance responsibilities,” she explained.

Following the presentation, Ms. Palmer expressed how impressed she was with both the students who presented and the freshmen who attended the presentation. She said, "Grieving students often feel alone...but not today at Westfield High School. Watching students learn so much from one another and support one another was so inspiring. I could see their resiliency blossoming!”

To learn more about “The Guy & Girl Thing Hangout” peer support program or to help support the program, contact Susan Kolesar at skolesar@westfieldnjk12.org. For more information about Imagine’s grief education program “#Here4U”, go to www.Imaginenj.org or call (908)264-3100.

(Photo provided: The entire 9th grade class at Westfield High School learned lessons about loss and supporting one another through life’s challenges in an assembly presented by the WHS Health Department, the school’s peer support program, and by Connie Palmer, LCSW, Training Director at Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss.)

— By Lorre Korecky

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