Stress is often associated with school, and currently there are two schools in Bedford, and with that comes more stress among students and teachers.

An increased number of students, the extra crowded hallways, mixed up locations and schedules—all things on the mind of students that add to the already stressful daily school routine.
But, with stress comes other complications.

Stress is the body’s way of reacting to a demand or a situation, both good and bad. During a stressful situation, the brain sends a signal to adrenal glands to release adrenaline into your bloodstream, giving extra energy to your body.

Short term stress, during a test for example, gives your body the energy to complete the task. This is also an example of eustress, or good stress, which makes you be more proactive and get the problem finished.

Then there is chronic stress. This lasts for a long time and can sap the body of energy it needs, leading to health issues. There is also distress, bad stress, that makes you stress about a problem, but doesn’t give motivation to overcome the issue.

A sudden increase in students will cause stress and the students and teachers can attest to that.
When asked whether he thinks the school merger is stressful, 8th grader Colin Morgeson said, “Yes, yes it does. It’s extremely inconvenient,” he said. “The usual process of learning is disrupted because as we are consistently going to different locations.”

Studies show that under certain stressful situations, a person may have a hard time thinking about things they are learning and focus on things that have happened, will happen, or are happening. An example of this would be the busy halls coupled with shorter passing times, or a scrambled up schedule to follow or even just a test in a different room than usual. Teachers also notice this from their students, as well as experiencing it themselves. 8th grade red pod math teacher Mrs. Laurie Gray said, “I think it was stressful in the beginning with the new routine.”

For the meantime, the halls will remain crowded, schedules will remain the same, but with every new routine, students will settle in no time. Mrs. Gray has found that has already started, “I think the students have done a great job adapting to the new routine.”