7 Spheres of Wellness: Challenge Success Reframes Jayhawk’s Wellbeing

Challenge Success, the School’s branch of a larger organization, aims to develop strategies that support the well-being and mental health of students and community members post-pandemic.

Challenge Success is a national organization founded by Stanford University Professor Denise Pope at the university. The School’s chapter of Challenge Success upholds the organization’s values of re-envisioning what success looks like in high school. For the organization, students’ success goes beyond academics and grades and includes physical, spiritual, and mental well-being.

The School’s branch started seven years ago, and the current club leads are Margaret Ripsteen ‘22, Kristi Conner ‘22, and Nicole Lamison ‘23. In meetings, the club holds discussions, invites speakers, and plans and focuses on current mental health issues and strategies the School can work on or adopt. Senior leader, Ripsteen, explains how the club meetings vary from discussions, to speakers, to planning, and typically focus on current mental health issues or strategies the School can work on or adopt. “Guests come in to help us push forward action we want to take,” Ripsteen describes, “and we are open to anyone who could help us aid our mission to increase wellbeing on the campus and destress students.”  

In the past, Challenge Success has taken on projects such as adopting mental health days, creating test calendars, and more student check-ins. This year, the club has been troubleshooting and adapting to the relevant and time-sensitive issues that have come with the pandemic.

In addition, Challenge Success is putting a huge emphasis on the seven spheres of wellness, which are environmental, occupational, spiritual, mental, social, emotional, and physical wellness. As Ripsteen states, “the seven spheres should be a lens for analyz[ing] your life and see[ing] where you can improve upon your own wellbeing, and see which spheres need more focus and attention.” The School is using this concept to promote the bridge to 2022 with a focus on mental health and student well-being.

Ripsteen adds that “the club’s main goal this year is re-establishing the priority of wellbeing on campus because right now, a lot of kids are struggling with unique issues due to the COVID transition.” To combat the issue, Challenge Success leaders have been working to institute a wellness week that would include various activities to prioritize mental health.

The club hopes that students will begin to look critically at their own wellbeing. With the challenging and rigorous academic culture at the School, Challenge Success aims to encourage students to prioritize sleep, emotional wellbeing, and other key parts of the seven spheres of wellness that create happier and healthier high school experiences.