Many students will remember our Warrior Wellness Center from the last school year in Relocatable 9. In the wellness center snacks were provided to students, as well as one of our school social workers to talk to about school and home worries. The wellness center was a place to take a break from the demands of your average school day.

Taylorsville’s Warrior Wellness Center, or “the closet,” has received an upgrade this year. Rather than a relocatable, the wellness center is located in room B-109 where it can be more central to students and provide more room for simple necessities. 

Now, the wellness center can provide basic needs to students who need it. The wellness center’s biggest focus this year is its clothing closet. Students are welcome to come to find, shoes, shirts, jackets, socks, underwear, coats, jeans, and much more when home life doesn’t allow for new clothes. Snack packs and take-home weekend food kits are also available to students who are struggling to get food at home. 

“If you’re worried that there’s not enough food at home or they don’t have enough clothes or their clothes are getting raggedy and there’s no money at home to go get clothes, this is here for them to use,” said Taylorsville social worker, Sara Spencer. “Just kindly mention it.”

The wellness center can also be a safe haven for students to catch their breath. The calming center is the most popular reason students visit the wellness center. 

“We need a space for kids who are overwhelmed with big emotions here so they can come and calm down sometimes I’ll be walking around the halls and I’ll see groups of kids who are trying to console a friend […] and then you end up getting in trouble because you’re all out in the halls and an administrator walks by,” Spencer said. “Part of the work that we do here, we have two social workers here, and when kids are having a hard time it’s our job to help. If you have a friend you know that’s having a hard time, tell them to access the wellness center.”

But the resources for students don’t end there. “We also have school supplies and hygiene products. Anything from deodorant, shampoo, soap, feminine products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, all that stuff,” added Spencer.

So many of our Taylorsville students have been accessing our wellness center this year. According to a KSL article “In the first 10 days of the 2022 school year, the Warrior Wellness Center was visited by 105 students. Of those, 47 needed clothing, 41 needed food, 20 needed hygiene or school supplies, and 18 visited for a 10-minute calming break.” Now as we are further into the school year, the wellness center has been visited by over 350 students (as of September 29th).

The inspiration for our Warrior wellness center came from Murray city volunteer, Pamela Andersen, who started the Spartan closet at Murray High School. Similar to the closet here at Taylorsville, the Spartan closet provides clothes, food, and rest to students in need.

“Back during the lockdown for Covid, [I] found an article about Thomas Schwab, […] a teen that graduated from Murray High School in the top of his class and had been living in a car & on the street most of his Junior & Senior years yet still found a way to put school first because he knew it would change his life,” Andersen said. “[I] had such a strong sense of urgency to do something.” 

Through the experience of meeting Schwab and learning his story, Andersen learned the importance of support in a student’s life. Her motto is “we are all in need,” and wholeheartedly believes that everybody can and should receive help. 

“I’ve asked [Schwab] about his needs during high school, and he said this would have been a support for him. He would have felt support and it would have lessened the stress for him,” Andersen said. “We don’t know what’s going on in a teens life, but I want to stress to every young adult out there – share with an adult you trust what you need and you’ll be amazed at the support and love you’ll feel – we want you to succeed – this closet Wellness center is for you to have support from another resource!”

Our Warrior Wellness Center is open during school hours, including both lunches. “You can come anytime during lunch. It’s here to be used,” Spencer said. “If you’re feeling overwhelmed in your class and you try to calm down at your desk and it’s just not working, you just have to have a hall pass to get in here. We want to see you.” Whenever you need a break, don’t be afraid to visit room B-109.