High school faculty gather once a month for Compassion Fatigue Fridays. They arrive in the LMC anywhere from 7:00 to 7:45 where they will be treated with donuts, juice and muffins. This event is funded by clubs and sports teams to give back to the hard working staff members. This event was put together by school counselor Matt Willett to help rejuvenate and strengthen relationships among the staff. 

The idea of Compassion Fatigue Fridays all started with Willett’s training to incorporate social and emotional learning within the school. 

 “When in a helping role, we display compassion for those that we are helping. Over time a person can experience fatigue just by having such compassion for helping others. Hence the name Compassion Fatigue,” Willett said.

Willett used this event to bring all of the staff throughout the high school together and encourage all of the employees of different departments to socialize with each other. 

“I was brainstorming about how we can all get together to say good morning, hello, hi, or to just say I hope you have a good day and laugh about whatever. The Compassion Fatigue Friday was what we called it,” Willett said.

As Compassion Fatigue Fridays continued Willett began to see his vision of bringing everyone together and creating new relationships in a fun and healthy environment come to life.

 “It is fun for everybody to see each other and sit with different people than what they are used to. They all have smiles on their faces, and I think that is healthy for everybody,” Willett said. 

Math teacher Jeff Hetcher also says this is a great chance for him and his colleagues to get to know each other better and team build. 

“I think it is important for everybody to get to know each other a little bit and unwind, and sometimes people talk about school and share stories with each other. It is just a good chance to team build,” Hetcher said.

Throughout this experience Hetcher pushes himself out of his comfort zone and socializes with new faculty members.

“I try to sit in a group that I don’t normally sit with. We just end up getting to know each other better because when you’re a teacher you’re in your own room all the time. I don’t get to see somebody way down stairs, so I will make a point to go sit with them and talk with them,” Hetcher said.

Math teacher Tara Chesebro says she enjoys the opportunity to get to know her coworkers in a more casual and less professional setting.

“I just think it is good to see us all in a relaxed setting instead of a business or professional setting so it’s nice to get to know each other in a different way,” Chesebro said.

Chesebro explains how Compassion Fatigue Fridays has made staff members unify into a family rather than separated into their department groups.

“It just helps us come together as a school-wide family instead of just department wise because we do a lot of things just as a department so it’s just nice to all get together,” Chesebro said.