Student burnout begins to consume students at NS

She wakes up and goes to her zero-hour class before school even starts. Then during the day, she attends higher level classes

through the college where she doesn’t even get to talk to her teacher face-to-face. After school, she has between two and three hours of practice depending on the season. Once she gets home, she doesn’t even have time to rest before she has to work on the farm taking care of animals and moving pipes. Most of the time she doesn’t even have time to work on any homework until she is dead-tired and wants nothing more than to go to bed.

This is the average day for junior Chesney Howard and many students at NS. This schedule has become more and more common.

In a recent NS Times survey, 55 percent of students said that they have felt that this school year has been harder emotionally and

academically, and 62 percent said that they feel that they or their classmates are more likely to be angry or distressed at school.

Some feel the reason for this difference is that the students themselves are losing joy for school and what it means to them or simply doing too much, which is leading to burnout.

“I feel like there's a group of students that are in everything,” senior Tyce Walker said. “They're involved in everything and the things that are involved in those groups expect a lot from them and then they are starting to lose the things they enjoy and they're just doing it for responsibility's sake.”

Beyond this, students have reported feeling less attached to school. In the 2025 NS Student Health And Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey, a survey done every two years to hear student opinion and assess risk factors, only 35 percent of students enjoyed coming to school and 66 percent of students felt that what they learned was not important for their lives.

While not every student may feel this way, the effect can affect those around them.

“Honestly, I feel pretty good,” Walker said. “I prioritize the things I love enough that I feel like I have a pretty good balance. My main thing is it’s just taking my friends; everyone is so busy.”

Not only have the students felt the change this year but staff as well.

“I guess just kind of off the top of my head, this year does feel different, but I couldn't pinpoint it,” social worker Cindy Lund said. “...It does feel different, that there's just maybe an extra layer of stress on students, for whatever reason.”

Most students face burnout in some form or another throughout high school. It can be caused by not taking breaks or becoming overwhelmed with work, school work or extracurricular activities.

“They are trying to do their best, but they kind of give up and so they get stuck in a rut or they don't want to do their work and it's

just overwhelming to have all of it come at once,” junior Shannon Jolley said. “And I think that has been hard.”

Burnout can be caused by lack of rest between activities and external stressors. Students who don’t sleep more than eight hours a

night are more likely to experience burnout.

“Something that is really a problem in our generation is that kids, they're going, going, going all day,” Jolley said. “They come home,

and now they have to go, go, go. … And then finally, like six, seven o'clock comes around. They finally get personal time. And so they use that. They stay up from six to midnight, finally having some personal time. And then now they get two hours of sleep. They have to wake up and go, go, go all day again.”

Screen time has a significant effect on sleep and specifically ruins quality sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. In the

SHARP survey results, 80 percent of students used a device for two or more hours a day and 60 percent said that screen time gets in the way of their sleep.

Lack of sleep can also lead to higher rates of emotional distress and depression. From the SHARP survey, in the past 12 months

42 percent of students felt hopeless or suicidal but did not feel like they could talk to anyone.

NS currently has funding from Project AWARE, a financial grant for mental health resources, to help students who are struggling to

get help.

“There's lots of things that we've been able to do,” Lund said. “We've got counseling resources through our project AWARE grant.

We've been able to, you know, connect students with. And so this year, well, the needs seem greater. I feel like we've got more

concrete supports in place than we've ever had, at least since I've been here.”

While not every student receives direct one-on-one counseling, many find that connection with teachers, staff or coaches.

“I have a lot of good people around me,” Howard said. “Coaches and my parents and friends, we all support each other. And if I am

struggling with chores, my parents will always help me out, or if I'm having a bad day at practice, my coaches are very understanding.”

Burnout is common but preventable for teenagers. With the right resources and connections, anyone can prevent it.

“You can say no, that is okay. It is okay to not do everything,” Walker said. “And please find time to still do the things you enjoy. I

know life is good. … Don't overwork yourself. Nothing, nothing good comes from it. Nothing.”

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Terrel’s says goodbye to Sanpete County

By Tanner Mickel • March 17, 2026

Terrel’s has been an icon and community loved landmark for many years. Now that Terrel’s is being sold to Ridley’s Family Markets, the community is searching for answers on what comes next. Although some might not like the idea of Terrel’s being sold, the old management thought that it was time to sell while Terrel Seely was still here. “The owner is getting older and you know, it was just time, to make sure that, that transition happened while he was still alive,” Blake Rosenlof said. The arrangements for the sale were finished before the original owner passed away. Seely passed away last week. While some are worried about changes, the purchase of Terrel’s and the five other stores previously owned by Seely will bring opportunities for many involved in the store. “What Ridley’s actually wants us to do is help incorporate what we're doing here,” Jared Mecham said, “cause now Ridley’s has 30 stores … They're a bigger company now. And so they actually want our help from the bakery standpoint of getting some of our products into their bakeries and in all 30 stores. So they don't want to change what we're doing, because we're one of the best bakeries in the state of Utah.” Many Terrel's employees are optimistic about this new opportunity. Ridley’s wants to keep the family friendly and supportive environment that Seely has built. The employees believe that it is going to be good for the business and just a good thing overall. “I think it will be a good change for most of the employees. And hopefully for the community as well," Rosenlof said. Terrel’s is going to begin the change and transfer over starting in the beginning of April, and it is planned to be a slow change. Terrel’s is planned to stay open throughout the entire process. Small changes will begin to start one by one, starting with things like the bags and milk. “I think it's gonna take some time to adjust to,” senior Quincy Benson said, “especially because Terrel's means a lot to the community. It's a place where a lot of people shop and it's been such a staple, but especially because Terrel Seely, everyone knows him, we love him.” They are not certain when the name will officially change. And though the name is going to be changed, Ridley’s still wants to keep the atmosphere and family supported environment. They plan to keep all the same staff and traditions and carry on what Seely has built. “One thing that Terrel has always let me do is, they let me bring my little kids in here to work, just to teach them how to work…,” Mecham said. “They've all worked here, and Terrel's allowed that. Most companies would never let you bring your kids to work. So I talked to the Ridley’s owners, they say the same thing, that we don't want that to change, we value teaching kids how to work.”

Ai kort

By Kortney Mitchell • March 17, 2026

A group chat filled with teenagers from all across the globe bonding over common interests. These people, who in any other circumstance would have never met, become best friends because they decided to play the same online games. With growing worldwide access to the internet, it has become common for teenagers and young adults to have online friendships. These connections can mean a lot to a person. “The relationships I have online are closer to my heart than those in real life,” junior Brittlyn Church said. With a generation who has been online their entire lives, online friendships are less taboo than ever. The results from a NS Times survey showed that 47 percent of students have had an online relationship, whether that be platonic or romantic. These relationships can have similar benefits to in-person friendships. “I feel like I am a lot more confident around people that aren’t seeing me face to face constantly. It's just easy to talk to them about something,” Church said. While there are some benefits, the biggest concern around online and AI relations is the increased number of social issues and lawsuits. ABC News and BBC News have both covered issues involving AI users replacing human contact with AI. “My concern is that, much like how pornography is pyrite of intimacy, I worry that these AI relationships will be pyrite for actual human connection,” behavioral health teacher Sterling Whipple said. “And people chase them because it feels good in the short term, but it leaves them unfulfilled in the long term.” According to the Britannica, the first AI chatbot was created in 1966 as a test to see if a computer could gain sentience. The responses given were often jumbled but it gave a baseline to work off of. With AI advancements, chatbots can now respond in real time to any conversation or prompt that the user puts in. These bots can have pre-set personalities or even mimic celebrities or fictional characters when given the right directions. “At some points it did kind of feel like they were more of a real person when I was talking to them, like a real funny person,” junior Nolun Neilsen said. “Then I realized, ‘Oh yeah, this is just a computer. This is just a bunch of other things compiled together to create this.’” Even with how realistic AI has gotten, there are still bugs that make it feel like exactly what it is, a computer trying to be a human. “I feel like just a real human experience will always be better,” Nielsen said. “I don't think it's ever gonna get quite as perfect because it's always better to just talk to someone in person and that feels more real.” The essential need for human connection is why these new developments with AI and online relationships should be taken seriously. “AI needs to be taken seriously,” Whipple said. “The effects on the human mind need to be taken seriously. I just hope that doesn't push us too far into a knee-jerk fear response, a panic response, because I think there's a lot of potential for good as well. But on young minds, we have to be really careful because they are so easily shaped.”

Speech and debate places 2 at region

By Jennifer Solis • March 17, 2026

On Feb. 21 the NS speech and debate team placed 2nd at region with 88 points. “I was very proud of our team,” advisor Alex Bailey said. “This was the first year where we've had enough people or a large enough team to be more competitive.” Juniors Andrew Madsen and Hannah Holbrook placed 1st in public forum, senior Katie Jones placed 1st in Informative Speaking, senior Ethan Mendicino placed 1st in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, Holbrook placed 2nd in National Extemporaneous Speaking, Wyatt Bills placed 2nd in Student Congress, Jazmin Solis and Sage Ivory tied for 2nd in Interpretive Performance, and Bills placed 3rd in Original Oratory. Preparing for region took a lot of practice, preparation, and effort from the team. In the weeks leading up to the competition, students dedicated time after school on Thursdays working on their speeches, practicing their performances, and making improvements. The advisors gave feedback to ensure that students could be ready to compete at region. The regional competition was a great experience for the team, as it allowed students to challenge themselves, learn from other competitors, and reflect on how hard they had come during the season. Competing against other schools gave the team the opportunity to see new performances and see what they can change so that they could do better moving forward. “Speech and debate provides a lot of positive opportunities, and I have learned a lot about myself through speech and debate,” Madsen said. “I think anyone who does speech and debate discovers something new about themselves.” The regional competition involved four schools from across the area, and because of this students knew they would face experienced competitors that required them to step up and practice harder. The team felt both nervous and excited to see how the region would turn out. “For me, [competing] is pretty easy just because I've been doing it for four years,” Jones said. “But when I started out, it was terrifying.” The team felt confident in their performance, even if they didn’t take first. “I feel good, but it's always a tough competition every year,” Ivory said. “Sometimes you can do really good at region and then there's just a school that'll just wipe you out.” Despite challenges that come with the events, most members tend to look on the positive side and see this as an opportunity to learn. Preparation helped these competitors feel more confident when it came to competing. Many students found that placing in region gave them a great sense of joy and showed the effort that they put in throughout the season. “I'm just so proud of everything they've all individually accomplished, and then what they've accomplished as a team as well,” Bailey said. “No matter how we do at state, I feel like we've already won to some extent.” As the season begins to come to an end, the speech and debate team is now preparing to move on to the state competition, bringing with them months of practice, dedication and the hope that all of their hard work will help them perform well. “My hopes for state is that myself and my teammates will have a successful weekend,” Bills said. "I hope that all the hard work we have put in this year pays off and hope that we can take home a lot of medals this year.”