At Poly Prep, mental health is a prominent topic. This year, students have the opportunity to attend mental health themed activities each day of Mental Health Awareness Month. Students also have access to a strong support team consisting of counselors, teachers, deans, learning specialists and a myriad other adults open to talk. Since 1949, May has been a time to highlight the importance of mental wellbeing, educate society, and promote support for anyone struggling.
“Stress and anxiety are the most common effects I see in students struggling with their mental health,” said Health Teacher Phoebe Aberlin-Ruiz. As Middle or High School students struggle to balance everything going on, it can lead to struggling with mental health, said Aberlin-Ruiz. “Especially for high school students coming from middle school, the level of rigor and the expectations ramp up so much that it’s really hard to adjust, and balance on your plate with everything else going on.”
“Hopefully making students feel comfortable speaking to me can start with the environment, it’s welcoming, it’s different than a classroom. I try to let them know they can talk to me openly and I don’t have to share what they’ve discussed with other people. Students really like that,” said Middle School Guidance Counselor Tynesha Wright-Lindo.
Having Mental Health Awareness Month opens up conversations for others to share their experience. “Talking openly about mental health can reduce the misconceptions and stigma, and can encourage those who are suffering to seek help and find a support network,” according to Brown University Health.
“If someone feels like they’re the only person who’s dealing with something, they’re going to be a lot less likely to talk about it,” furthered Upper School Counselor Benjamin Marks. “Raising that awareness helps to reduce the stigma and can lead to really productive conversations about supporting each other.”
To celebrate this month, Poly sent emails to all parents, students, faculty and staff introducing a system for this year’s Mental Health Month. Every day of the week will have a new topic that centers the community on specific activities relating to mental health. For instance, every Monday in the week of May will offer activities relating to aromatherapy, including scents such as lavender, peppermint, or rosebuds for Middle School students. Aromatherapy helps “relieve pain, improve mood, and promote a sense of relaxation. In fact, several essential oils, including lavender…and others have been shown to relieve anxiety, stress and depression,” according to Mount Sinai.
High school students at Poly can also participate in events pertaining to mental health awareness. Mondays focus on mindful motivation and developing a positive mindset, with Marks handing out relaxation exercises, coloring sheets and mental health resources. On Tuesdays, the counselors have proposed “Try It Out Tuesdays,” where students are encouraged to have smaller meetings with the counselors to either solve a quick problem or see if they would be interested in meeting with them more regularly. On Wednesdays, the guidance counselors encourage students to focus on wellness as a whole by drinking water or doing physical activities. On Thursdays, Marks helps send messages of appreciation to peers and faculty. Lastly, Friday is Friendship Friday, led by Upper School Counselor Anais Kingsberry, with friendship bracelets or games to spread positivity and fun amongst the community.
Aviva Treister ’28, attended one of the Monday programs. “I was able to learn more about mental health and do a coloring sheet with friends. It was a great way to start the week in this very important month.”
“My friends and I made friendship bracelets during our free on Friday. It was a great way to focus on mental health by having fun, which isn’t something I normally think about,” said Jillian Maura ’28.
“Every day is going to be something different. Hopefully, it will encourage students to try something or receive something that can improve their wellness,” said Wright-Lindo.
Any of the counselors or adults you feel comfortable with in Poly will always be willing to help and are working hard to make sure we appreciate the importance of mental health this May. “I think the first thing [when counseling students] is to be authentic and come in with the goal of offering support, validating and understanding different students’ experiences, and being open-minded and trying to be just as understanding and encouraging as possible,” said Marks.
From a teaching standpoint, Aberlin explained that it’s also important to teach mental health in Health class because “the more you talk about anything, the more it [becomes] normalize[d] it. I also think in a classroom with kids in a smaller group, they feel more comfortable sharing out about things they’ve dealt with, and it’s a lot easier to see that most of us are feeling the same.”
Mental Health Awareness Month can serve as a great time for students to utilize their resources. With the numerous programs offered this May, hopefully some will lift the weight off of students struggling to manage everything. “I’m a big fan of mental health awareness month because there’s a big stigma against mental health and the more we talk about it and recognize that it’s a very real phenomenon, the easier it is to create pathways forward and help students plan to support their mental health,” said Marks.
