Richard Prinz is a school based therapist at Monta Vista High School, responsible for providing advice and guidance to teens about their mental health as they navigate through the most critical developmental stage of their lives. Throughout his professional career in working with students, he offers insight into the importance behind maintaining a good mental health alongside other rigorous academic and social pressures. In this episode, he shares preventative methods, coping exercises, and stress relieving activities to help students excel at school and personal wellness.

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the education sector is among the hardest hit as schools all over the nation have been suspended temporarily or even entirely shut down. Trudy Gross, the Fremont Union High School District Superintendent shares her experiences regarding student mental health, her viewpoints of remote learning, and the current state of community wellness within the 5 FUHSD schools. In this episode, she offers her expertise in weighing pros and cons of our current learning and mental situations, as well as optimism for the approaching reopening of schools.

Eating disorders are increasingly prevalent in our society today. From the contradictory “slim thick” ideal to the insidious diet culture that promotes “quick fixes,” it seems impossible to meet society’s standard of beauty. In this episode, Vaishnavi Suresh and Ananya Rupanagunta, two high school students, explain their own experiences struggling with an eating disorder and what helped them in their recovery journey. They detail some of the deeply rooted problems in our society that encourage disordered eating, and how we can slowly educate ourselves to help prevent more people from falling victim to the same struggles.

Vennessa Nava, Bonnie Belshe, and Elizabeth McCracken are all teachers at Monta Vista, an extremely academically rigorous public high school in the Bay Area. While sharing their personal insights about mental health in the MV community, they each expand upon how they implement specific measures to alleviate stress and anxiety in their classrooms, like in-class yoga, zoom-breaks, and breathing exercises.

Aviral Pandey is the CEO and founder of Aumhum, a personalized meditation and mental wellness app that guides its users by recommending teacher driven meditations, relaxation audio, breathing exercises, and more. After graduating from IIT, an esteemed engineering and technology university in India, Aviral discovered his passion for entrepreneurship amidst his journey to improve his physical and mental health. In this episode, he shares his life experiences, advice for students, and deep knowledge of customer attraction, while advocating for increased conversation and transparency surrounding mental health issues.