HEROES presents Conant’s first Mental Health Awareness Fair
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The “Recovery Wall” was filled with compassionate messages from Cougars and included a list of famous people who battled mental illness to show how common it is. This wall demonstrated that despite the difficulty of mental illness, there is treatment and hope. -
Students were asked to write doesn positive statements or ways in which they manage their own stress to demonstrate some of their own coping skills and positive strategies. -
Stop the Stigma provided information on mental illness and various myths to stop the stigma of being diagnosed with a mental illness. -
Students were able to create a bag or bin that holds special and meaningful items to use in times of emotional crisis or for relaxation. Each kit is unique because each person determines what items are important and helpful for them. It is also sometimes called a sensory kit or a grounding kit. -
Students were given the opportunity to enter a drawing to win some cool prizes (the grand prize was Beats headphones) if they checked out the tables at the fair and gave their feedback.
October 5-11 was National Mental Health Awareness Week, and to have Conant students learn more about mental health, Elizabeth Einig, a sophomore, and the H.E.R.O.E.S. (Helping Everyone Respect Others and Expect Safety) Club organized Conant’s first Mental Health Awareness Fair. H.E.R.O.E.S. estimated that about 600 students stopped by, and many more wore green in support of mental health.
The mission of H.E.R.O.E.S. is to promote prevention and awareness of bullying behaviors within the schools, as well as healthy and safe decision making. Both the CHS Student Services Department and HEROES Club agree that taking good care of one’s mental health is a part of healthy decision making. Remembering to take care of one’s emotional and mental well-being is equally as important as taking care of one’s physical well-being. Everyone experiences stress, and it is important to identify positive ways of management.
Einig said, “One out of five people will experience mental illness during a lifetime. That means that many students at Conant will deal with mental health concerns. Some face it right now.”
Felicia MacFarlane, school psychologist, mentioned, “One in four adults experiences mental illness in a given year, while approximately 20 percent of teens experience severe mental disorders in a given year.”
Some of the tables in the fair were informational, and some were interactive. They included: Stress Kit, Stop the Stigma, Recovery, Resources, and Survey.
From the surveys, students have said:
- “I’m so happy Conant is doing this.”
- “I think it’s really important to spread awareness and acceptance because it’s so much worse to feel isolated and struggle with mental illness alone.”
- “I learned a lot by stopping by for just a few minutes. Thank you!”
- “It was great to see the Green Out. It says a lot about our school!”
- “This is excellent. It’s really good to raise awareness about this cause.”
I just helped out my dieing friend when he died. See i have ptsd and bipolar and live in a grouphome and i actualy knew my friend was in trouble so i called for help i made sure my other roommate did not get into harms way eighther it took staff hours to get here but i made sure it was ok i made sure he was geting help when he died this was not easy but im proud of my self even if no one else is.