Health, Wellness & Community
Yearlong Courses
Health, Wellness & Community 9
- Required
[Pass/Fail]
The freshman-year program's primary focus is the transition and adjustment to the Academy by encouraging students to consider what it means to be part of the Lake Forest Academy community. Strategies for a successful transition and adjustment, both academically and socially, are explored. Students review school rules and expectations, centering on Lake Forest Academy's mission statement's four pillars. There is an emphasis on study skills, time management, and exam preparation. Students also look at the importance of multiculturalism and pluralism within our diverse student community. They discuss the idea of what makes up identity, and then each student creates a multimedia presentation that expresses what they view as being the most important parts of who they are. Regarding physical health, students receive information about nutrition and exercise, diseases and infections, safety education and disaster survival, first aid, suicide prevention, stress management, substance use prevention, and relationship education. This survey of topics allows students to identify personal strengths and areas of needed growth, which will help them be successful in the LFA community.
Health, Wellness & Community 10
- Required
[Pass/Fail]
Students in Sophomore HWC spend time looking inward to grow skills in self-awareness and self-management. This internal study allows students to explore individual values, beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations, increasing their self-efficacy. Students gain practice communicating their own perspectives while advocating for their own beliefs, values, and authenticity. These relationship skills sharpen students' ability to engage in civic responsibility, leadership, and community-building.
Sophomore HWC is also an extension of Lake Forest Academy’s Service Learning Program. By exploring current social issues in conjunction with students’ personal service engagement experiences, students are encouraged to determine how their own personal values and beliefs can make a difference in the world around them. During HWC, students are required to collaborate and launch a service project, then reflect upon the experience of engaging in the community.
Health, Wellness & Community 11
- Required
[Pass/Fail]
Students expand on their health education in developmentally appropriate sexual education topics. Juniors will gain practice in self-management, responsible decision-making, and relationship skills while exploring topics of communication and consent, abusive relationships and peer pressure, sexually transmitted disease, contraceptives, body image, eating disorders, navigating rejection, stress management, and sleep and dental hygiene. Periodically, students work with the Office of College Counseling to prepare for College Night in September, the LFA College Workshop in the second semester, ongoing testing options, and the commencement of the college search and application process.
Health, Wellness & Community 12
- Required
[Pass/Fail]
The senior program focuses on the college application process (first semester) and life after LFA (second semester) as we continue with efforts to cultivate mind, body, and spirit. Students continue to explore the integration of personal values and beliefs with personal choice, goal-setting, and goal actualization, emphasizing skills necessary for responsibly managing greater independence. The class also addresses specific issues involving college transition, including time management, academic policies, social pressures, and older adolescents' physical and mental health information. Our purpose is to help students develop the moral and ethical thoughtfulness, nuanced social consciousness, and leadership skills they need before transitioning to college.