Thornapple Kellogg — Mental health matters to students at Thornapple Kellogg High School.
At a recent event to celebrate National Mental Health Awareness Month, TK’s Hope Squad set up stations to do yoga, make colorful beaded bracelets and share their stories of struggle and success. Each activity focused on promoting self-care and healthy methods of coping with stress.
Sophomore Brooklyn Hammer led a group of male students in a flow of yoga poses meant to stretch their bodies and quiet their busy minds.
“Yoga is a great way to help people calm down during a super stressful time of year,” she said. “These are things they can do so things aren’t as heavy on their hearts.”
Brooklyn explained how the club has been about educating themselves and their classmates about mental health topics. They meet every other week to plan school-wide events and learn from their co-advisors, English teachers Tricia Rickert and Cary Saxton.
‘A more welcoming and safe place’
Established at more than 2,000 schools in the U.S., Hope Squad is more than just a school club. It’s a peer-to-peer youth suicide prevention program dedicated to reducing the stigma surrounding mental health and creating a school culture that promotes connectedness and inclusivity.
Last fall, about 50 TK students from all grade levels came together with the shared goal of supporting their peers and making their school a more welcoming and safe place for all.
Rickert and Saxton sent out a survey to the entire school for students to nominate people they deemed kind, trustworthy and someone they would feel comfortable opening up to.
“I’ve gone through so many things, and I think I give good advice,” sophomore Mars Ring said. “I want to help other people feel less alone.”
During their first semester together, Rickert said, everyone went through a training on mental health, suicide signs and prevention and the importance of notifying trusted adults if there are concerns or reaching out for resources.
“We all need to be mentally healthy,” she said. “They learned a lot and were really excited to get to the outreach part.”
Co-adviser Saxton said Hope Squad is different from other student organizations started before this year.
“We have tried many versions of a mental health club in the past, but this is sustainable because it is student led and student driven,” she said.
Back in January, the group served a leisurely breakfast with games and fun activities to be a break from classes. Earlier this month, Hope Squad visited the middle school to share what they learned with younger students.
Keep the Mental Health Momentum Going
To accompany each station’s activity at the high-school event, Hope Squad members shared the science behind the strategies and how they can improve mental, physical and emotional health.
At the “Misery Loves Company” table, students were encouraged to anonymously write about hardships and life experiences on a paper puzzle piece, without judgement, so they could create one large puzzle to display in the halls.
“I feel like people struggle with talking to others about their mental health, but it’s OK to be struggling,” Mars said.
Next year, the group wants to expand their efforts, planning more events and visiting the middle-school students more often.
Mars added: “It’s a really good group of people, and I hope we can do more next year and keep learning about mental health.
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