This is an official appeal for Chesterfield County Schools to give the collective student body Wednesdays off once again, as well as giving us the option of pass/fail grades for our mental health. 

Currently Chesterfield County schools believe pushing us to turn our cameras on and go to school for extra hours will help us succeed in school. However, it is quite the opposite. The more hours we are expected to sit and listen through each class, the worse our mental state is getting. 

We are unmotivated and tired. This environment is slowly killing our spirit and we must find a change. According to a report done by Richmond News on Monday, “one in six Chesterfield high school students are failing two or more classes.” The article goes into further detail about how students' mental health is struggling. 

The school board's taking away our mental health day is detrimental to many kids who need the break from the stressors of classes and focus on self care and time with family and friends- the healthy way to respond to a very stressful and for others painful year. 

The county as a whole is struggling to adapt to online, and adding stress to a global pandemic is not the answer. 

Therefore, for empathy and understanding for what students and teachers are currently going through; the collective student body is petitioning to reinstate Wednesdays as an official mental health day, and to present the option for classes to be pass/fail. 

Sign your name for the goal that the mental health of students will be put above everything else.