Hawken hosts first-ever Health Day

Your daily grind could be doing a lot more than just wearing you out. It could be making you sick. It`s a sobering thought considering how studies show most illnesses stem from unhealthy lifestyles. For most teens, though, that`s a distant thought. Their resilient bodies often provide them a naive sense of invincibility, if not immortalilty. But give those same youthful bodies about, say, 20-30 years, and, oh, how they`ll see times change and how their wellness then had a lot to do with what they did now. Hawken school nurse Kari Gali and some Hawken students thought it was important enough to hold a daylong health symposium in lieu of regularly scheduled classes. So, recently, students, staff and faculty spent an entire Friday exploring a wide range of health issues from energy consciousness to sports training in 40-minute breakout sessions. Interspersed throughout the day were three medical professionals who additionally spoke on issues surrounding body image and the media and the importance of sleep. "I think taking time out from our daily routine from time to time to allow students and faculty to consider relevant--non-academic--topics is important," said Upper School Director Charlie Sachs. "...These occasions help broaden our awareness of larger issues that help make us stronger and better as individuals and as a community." This was the first event of its kind at Hawken.