Stress Less, RUHS

Baker coordinates kindness week events to focus on stress prevention

Homework, family, friends and sports are just some of the things that can cause stress. Senior Brianna Baker is working towards fixing this problem and increasing positivity in her community. Baker is planning a Kindness Week on November 12-15 to help students to improve their happiness and to release their stress. 

“The goal of Kindness Week is to increase campus inclusivity and positivity through social, emotional, mental and physical well being,” Baker said. 

This all started with Baker’s club, Stress Less. In her sophomore year, Baker had a job and was involved in theatre arts, soccer and girl scouts in addition to her academic classes. She started experiencing a lack of sleep and a change in her moods, and her performance in school declined. 

“I was experiencing a lot of stress in my daily life and I noticed my friends were too, so it just made sense to not only help myself through all this, but to help others also,” Baker said. 

  With the help of resources and techniques she researched, Baker learned how to manage her time better and lower the stress in her life. She teaches her peers in Stress Less how to do this by providing different programs, apps and techniques to manage stress and to make life easier. She also gives lessons on how to prevent, deal and cope with stress in their daily lives that might arise from school and extracurricular activities.

“It’s a lot easier for me to calm myself down and not get anxiety before taking a test, which in turn makes the test easier,” Baker said. 

This was the inspiration behind Kindness Week. It is a combination of last years Mental Health Awareness Week and the Start With Hello Initiative, which is a program that teaches people to make a difference in their peers’ life, starting with simply saying hello.

“I’m hoping this week will have an impact on students and for it to start a chain of positive communication on the Redondo campus, that lasts not just during the week, but the week acts as a catalyst,” Baker said. 

Kindness Week will be filled with activities to remind students to be kind and help them to release stress. Starting Monday the 12th, 200 balloons are going to be handed out around campus with positive notes inside them. On the 13th, there will be 5 different stations around campus that will have cards for people to write positive messages, and the cards will either be put on a poster on campus or students could give the card to a friend. On the 14th, there will be a picnic on the auditorium lawn where students will have an opportunity to see clubs that are on campus. There will be performances by Salsa along with other dance clubs, Ping Pong Club and Ultimate Frisbee Club will also be playing on the lawn. Finally, on the 15th at the Student Union, there will be a provider fair for students to see the resources they have on and off campus in their community when they’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

“The whole point of these activities is to meet new people but most importantly to give students a place to go where they can relieve stress for at least a little bit,” Baker said.

Baker believes that everyone should find an outlet to help them manage their stress and hopes that students will continue to use the skills they develop during the week and bring it into their daily lives. 

“I think every student has something going on right now that can be stressful, so giving them a place to go where they can release stress can really be helpful,” Baker said.