Stress Relief Wall - our minds matter

Promote the importance of self-care for mental health
Teach students healthy coping strategies they can use to manage stress
Create a sense of connection and sharing amongst students

Students are reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety since the pandemic, and this can be heightened during testing season.
Stress management is an essential skill for students to learn to cope with stressful situations.

Entire school

Secure necessary approval for creating a bulletin board in a common space in the school
School counseling team to provide additional support

Plan the ideal time in the month to focus on stress management – consider the week before state testing when stress is running high
Create a bulletin board in a large space where students frequently walk by
Include instructions for students to do the following:
1. Leave what you can:

1. - Write down one or more of your favorite stress management or self-care strategies on a sticky/post-it note, such as (going for a walk, listening to music, calling my best friend, etc)
2. Take what you need

- - Take one sticky/post-it note with a new stress management tip you want to try

Invite school counselors during lunch periods to be near the wall to talk about stress management with students and schedule follow-up sessions as needed

Use this sample language to promote the campaign on posters, social media, and the morning announcements. Feel free to adapt as needed for your school.
- “Testing week is coming up. Feeling stressed out? Swing by the (insert location of the board) next week to learn how to manage your stress in a healthy way with the OMM Stress Relief Wall. Come ready to share your best tips too.”

Estimate the number of students who participate in sharing strategies on the wall
Estimate the number of students who engaged with the school counseling team related to stress management
Did you notice students talking about coping strategies?
Awesome! What about using any of the coping strategies? Even better!

What was it like to post something and take an idea from the stress relief wall?
What do you think other students gained from participating in the stress relief wall?
Do you think students used new stress management strategies? Why or why not?
What else could our OMM club do to promote stress management all year?

en