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When Jennifer Ciccarelli, head of school at Columbus School for Girls, worked on the East Coast at all girls’ schools, she discovered something rather disturbing: perfectionism and anxiety were crippling students. After coming to Ohio, Ciccarelli observed that while Midwestern students weren’t struggling in those same ways, it was only a matter of time before they too felt the negative effects of pressure.
Instead of waiting for the epidemic to hit, Ciccarelli took proactive steps and added social and emotional wellbeing to the longstanding CSG Wellness program.
Within the last several years, CSG has welcomed powerful female programs like Ruling Our eXperiences or ROX; and Big/Little Sis; along with the Columbus-based Youth Yoga Project that provides yoga and wellness resources to students. Additional aspects such as stress management and individual counseling to help students of all ages reach their highest potential.
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“We want our girls to be great self-advocates and understand how they can be healthy their entire lives,” says Ciccarelli. “That’s why we start really young, and throughout their school years, we help our students navigate what good stress feels like, what bad stress feels like, how their brain and body interact with each other.”
Erin Solomon, a CSG senior, says the Wellness program helps her in and outside the classroom.
“We should be able to enjoy our lives while still succeeding in school, so it's important to make sure we leave room in our schedule for wellness and find a way to manage stress,” she says.
Ciccarelli says one of the reasons the program is so successful is because CSG listens to and values feedback from its students.
“They know they are listened to, they know their ideas matter, and they’re taking some form of ownership with their own education and how they manage their lives,” she says.
Wellness for All
For the past couple of years, the wellness program has reached new heights by going beyond the classroom – and it’s not slowing down any time soon.
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Ciccarelli says teachers and staff take time out of their work day to discuss mindfulness habits. At one conference, faculty picked from activities such as jogging, pottery and yoga to focus on team building and personal wellness.
Instead of a paralyzing epidemic, CSG is witnessing the positive effects of addressing wellness. The students’ parents have also taken an interest in learning more and can also attend the CSG speaker events. Dr. Lisa Damour, author of Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls, recently visited the school to discuss her expertise.
“Just as we, faculty and staff at CSG, are seeking to model good behavior to our students, we are also educating our parents right alongside,” Ciccarelli says.
This spring, CSG plans on opening its wellness resources – like the speaker series and programs available in the evenings, weekends and summers – to the central Ohio community.
“The degree to which we work so closely in partnership with our students and our families is just a highlight of this program, and has helped make it so successful,” Ciccarelli says. “We are always a work in progress, and I think we can always get better at this work.”
Lydia Freudenberg is an editor. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
