Evergreen Sleep Podcast

Protecting the mental health of adolescents is crucial in today's world. Managing stress from school and home is emphasized. Julia White, a busy student-athlete, says sleep is key to her academic and physical performance. Without enough sleep, she struggles to stay awake in class and complete tasks. English teacher Sharon Sugameli notices decreased engagement in students who lack sleep. She encourages students to seek help and develop good sleep habits. Counselors can assist with setting goals and overcoming obstacles. Lack of sleep affects focus, learning, and overall well-being, impacting mood and relationships. In today's world, where protecting mental health of adolescents is very important, managing the stress that school and home life bring has become a very big point of emphasis in the world. Julia White, a junior, is a determined student-athlete participating in NHS, Link Crew, Interact Club, peer-to-peer, unified basketball, and is a goalie for the varsity field hockey team. With her overwhelming agenda, she said that the more sleep she gets, the better she does academically and physically. Without optimal sleep, White said that she tends to fall asleep in class and cannot perform as well on task assignments. When I don't sleep, I don't really want to be around people, and that doesn't make my day as good because I really love hanging around people, White said. So it's important to get sleep so my body can function correctly. English teacher Sharon Sugameli often notices a decrease in students' engagement when the school year moves on in time. She can recognize whether a student is getting enough sleep. If not, she lets the student know that help is available. The teachers can certainly check in with the students and contact home. It ultimately is the student's responsibility to get enough sleep in the end, Sugameli said. Creating good habits now could help students prioritize sleep in their adulthood. She later expressed how there are resources available to help you, like your counselors and those around you. Counselors can also help students set obtainable goals in terms of developing healthy sleep schedules, Sugameli said. Frequent check-ins to see if their goals are being met and identifying obstacles to achieving these goals is another way counselors can help students create a more balanced sleep schedule. When students don't get enough sleep, they're unable to focus in class and learn and retain information as well as they would if they did get enough. This will inevitably impact their academics, Sugameli said. In regards to their overall well-being, lack of sleep increases irritability, which could be an impact on mood and relationship of students.