The 2020 and 2021 school years are ones that we’ve never seen before. With the ongoing pandemic regarding COVID-19, some WJPS students find themselves struggling with mental health issues. 

Junior Sonya Woodham stated, “Since COVID started, my mental health has been different than normal. I started to become more anxious about things such as assignments and tests in school.“

Another WJPS junior Samantha Monge said, “Everyone deals with mental health problems differently, however I think students should be offered suggestions by staff members regarding help with mental health issues to make things easier for everyone.“ 

Additionally, WJPS teacher Ms. Marks said, “It’s been really difficult to educate my students with my preferred teaching styles and methods, and especially with the masks I’ve gotten even more frustrated. I’ve had to reinvent how I do everything as a teacher.“ 

WJPS school counselors, Ms. Paplow and Mr. Lumetta, are sources of support if any WJPS student ever needs to talk about their problems concerning mental health or any other topic. Other contacts are Ms. Tiwari, a new social worker at WJPS, and Mr. Ijeaku, a SAPIS counselor.