It is officially May, marking the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month. These thirty-one days are dedicated to helping students and staff feel their best.
“Mental Health Awareness month is a time set aside for all people in [our] community to take time for themselves in the form of self-care…During this month, we strive to provide our community with events and resources that can help them calm down, cope, or heal,” said Chloe DuBrock, a member of Hope Squad.
Hope Squad, a club created in order to give students a group of peers they can turn to for mental health-related aid, will be sponsoring multiple events this month focused on educating the Wilton High School community on available mental health resources.
Therapy dogs will be found in the LLC every Thursday in the afternoon through May. Even short interactions with these dogs are proven to reduce anxiety and distress levels, making them an excellent addition to this month’s activities.
Additionally, the Wilton Youth Council has a display available for community members at the Wilton Library consisting of 256 green pinwheels (to represent the mental health-related calls made to 988 and 211 in Wilton in the past year) and 339 white pinwheels (to represent the 3 in 5 people that suffer from mental health issues and addiction who don’t reach out for help). This display is a more tangible demonstration of the prevalence of mental health struggles both in our community and on a larger scale.
Another school-wide event will take place on May 21st: “Unplug Day,” where students and staff can challenge themselves to forgo the use of any electronic devices. Though the activity is optional, there will be a raffle for those who enter with an opportunity to win fun prizes, such as a variety of gift cards from local businesses.
On the same day, the school will have a Bubble and Brew truck, from which students and staff can enjoy boba and other treats. It’s recommended that students bring cash as if they are participating in Unplug Day, they will not have access to their phones.
Only three days later, a pizza truck from the restaurant 800 Degrees will be parked outside of the school. All students are welcome to purchase pizza, and the majority of proceeds will be donated to Mental Health Awareness organizations.
Less than a week after this event, on May 30 from 11:30 to 3 pm, the Mental Health fair will take place in the Zellner Gallery. It will include events and informational presentations where participants can get pins and other gadgets.
To celebrate the end of the month, kindness notes will once again be
available for peers to send to each other. These notes were a huge success last year, and Hope Squad is excited to partake in this activity again.
As Lia Lombardi, president of Hope Squad, put it: “The world always needs more kindness… and that is one of Hope Squad’s missions. If we give people the opportunity to be kind then we are one step closer to making the world a better place.”
The goal of these events is to “educate our community on mental health resources. We want students to know different methods to cope with various mental health struggles,” said DuBrock.
Hope Squad’s motto is “It’s ok to not be ok.” A staggering three out of five people struggling with mental health do not seek help, but with the breadth of resources available, from school counselors to numbers like 988 and 211 to the QR code on the back of students’ ID cards, the Wilton Community can begin making strides to change this statistic. Mental Health Awareness Month serves as a great reminder that no matter how alone you may feel, there will always be someone there for you, and things can–and will–get better.
