With the recent increases in reported stress among students, policy makers, teachers, and students within the district are trying to find solutions to this issue.

To an extent, stress is an inevitable part of life, and each individual has their own ways of dealing with it. Some stress is beneficial in the sense that its a motivator, but too much stress is overwhelming and can negatively affect mental health, social psychology teacher Anne Aldridge-Peacock said.

Peacock said that she has a unique perspective on the stressors in Piedmont high school students’ lives. In her view, stress is natural and a part of life.

“To develop competence, you need to be challenged, fail, and succeed to grow” Peacock said.

Peacock said several suggestions to help students better cope with their stress.

“I think mindfulness is a really valuable skill,” Peacock said. “The ability to understand and recognize what we are thinking or feeling and moving through the emotion to grow rather than pushing it away is really important.”

Peacock said that she believes that it may also be helpful for students to have more downtime during the day.

“Our brains need down time to regenerate and reset,” Peacock said.

The Board of Education recently held a workshop that dealt with the topic of stress and mental health among students. The meeting was designed to advance the Board’s objectives, which include better understanding the stressors in students’ lives and the systems and structures at PUSD that have possibly served to either alleviate or aggravate the stressors. From this information, the Board wants to become better informed to make future policy decisions on topics such as grades, homework, course offerings and enrollment, and student health and wellness, according to the special Board workshop memorandum.

Board of Education President Amal Smith said she urges students to utilize the services provided by the Wellness Center if they are having problems.

Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) is continuing its efforts to increase the amount of students who feel that they have an adult at school who they feel comfortable going to, according to the board memorandum.

“I have been pretty stressed because of school this year, and I always start to worry,” junior Luke Biehn said.

Biehn said he believes that a possible solution to the increasing stress among students involves making grades less important.

“We welcome students to take part in this discussion,” Smith said. “They are the ones dealing with these issues and who will be affected by changes.”