This course is designed to deliver a Health & Wellness program to our Fourth Form students in a one-term seminar-style course covering the following topics: Six Dimensions of Health and Growth Mindset, Nutrition and Sleep, Mental Health and Stress Management, Healthy Relationships and Sex Ed, and Substance Use and Dependency. Students examine the power of mindset and focus on Dr. Carol Dweck’s work around the advantages of developing beyond a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Course work also delves into the benefits of positive psychology, specifically, Martin Seligman’s concept of learned optimism. Students have the opportunity to practice how these mindsets and approaches can change their thinking, feelings, and emotions. We will also study the power of food through film, field trip experiences, and personal journaling. The students will have the opportunity to examine stress and learn various stress management practices including mindfulness, meditation, and yoga. We will discuss the range of mental health issues affecting teenagers today, most prevalently depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety, understanding the brain science and genetic component of these illnesses, how they manifest themselves in our lives, and specific strategies and resources that are available to treat and manage mental illness. We will examine addiction and substance use in terms of vaping, THC, opiates, and alcohol, delving more deeply into how these substances affect our brains, body,  and behavior. We will also discuss addiction from both genetic and environmental perspectives. Finally, the course culminates in a discussion on healthy relationships and the necessary components involved in healthy relationships. Students will learn about affirmative consent and sex education in terms of healthy decisions and safe sexual practices, specifically around awareness and prevention of STDs and pregnancy. 

Required of all Form IV students.