On May 19 Wellness Palooza took place for the first time and aimed to raise awareness for mental health in an unprecedented way. “Wellnesspalooza is supposed to create a new type of conversation around mental health at Parker and break the stigma around its unseriousness,” junior Ewuraesi Korankye said. Korankye is one of the four student planners of the event. “By hosting Wellness Palooza, we are trying to take a hands-on approach to mental health education that goes beyond conversations and guest speakers.”
The planning began with Upper School Counselors Winefred Kearns and Kristan Williams and soon expanded to student leaders Sloane Trukenbrod, Donovan Clark, Emma Webster, and Ewuraesi Korankye. The event took place from 11:00 am – 3:30 pm, and students had the opportunity to opt out of classes or “pop in during clubs and affinities to indulge in a number of fun activities,” Korankye said.
The events ranged from facials and slime making to therapy dogs and a Shred415 workout. Upper School students received a form from the planning committee before the event, and “everyone was given the opportunity to select the booth they would like to visit during the time slots,” Korankye said. The activities highlight the different types of wellness practices around emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health. “Because it’s the first year, I didn’t want to overwhelm people, so I tried to stick with a handful of activities for each category,” Williams said, “and so after careful consideration and planning, the team reached out to people both inside and outside of the Parker community to see who was willing and able to facilitate that activity or brainstorm other options.”
The idea was first thought of when Williams and Physical Education teacher Madeline Maldonado attended a fitness festival in the summer of 2024 with wellness booths and multiple fitness stages. “When thinking about ways I wanted to honor Mental Health Awareness Month this year, I knew I wanted it to be something engaging and meaningful for students, faculty, and staff. Recreating our own wellness festival seemed like a perfect fit,” Williams said. When Williams came back to Parker, she and Kearns assembled the team of student leaders and met with them every club period starting in April. The group of student leaders had previously been to the NAIS Civics Summit Conference in D.C. and then worked together to brainstorm booth and activity ideas while also “keeping in mind ways to utilize Parker Alumni or existing partnerships,” Trukenbrod said. “The thing I really loved about the planning process was that whenever I would go into a planning meeting, I was always super excited because I felt like I was making an actual difference in my peers’ mental health, even if I don’t talk to that specific person on a regular basis.”
The goal of the event is to “promote the need for self-care, even in the midst of academic pressures and to break the stigma around the ridiculousness of mental health conversations,” Korankye said. Over the past year, Kearns and Williams have worked extensively to “implement real solutions to an unsolvable problem,” Williams said. Before Wellnesspalooza, there had been different mental health awareness events and items, such as the “Zen Zone” next to Williams and Kearns’ office and the suicide awareness walk. However, “for the first time, we are really putting mental health at Parker in the spotlight, with real tangible things,” Korankye said.
The event aimed to serve the entire student body and “regardless of who you are or where you come from, no one is immune from life’s challenges, big or small,” Williams said. “Everyone could benefit from having a safe space to process what’s going on… The reality is that being a human is hard, and there is no shame in seeking validation and support when navigating all that comes with being human.”
This was the first time Wellnesspalooza is held, and the team has high hopes that it will become “an annual event like County Fair or Cookies,” Williams said. “That being said, we want to make sure the first one goes well.” The events were chosen carefully by Williams, focusing on all three branches of health, mental, physical, and spiritual, to provide the widest range of health opportunities for the student body
“I think Wellnesspalooza will make a huge difference because it is one of the first times Parker is willing to branch out of fostering mental health education through guest speakers, MXs, etc. Students have been there, done that. Students are tired of being talked at, and I think Wellnesspalooza is the perfect opportunity for Parker to show instead of tell,” Korankye said.
