The student run Mental Health Awareness Group works hard to normalize mental health for both students and staff. The group provides a safe place for any students or staff that need to go vent, or simply take their mind off of the stresses in life for a moment. Founded by leaders Bella Moran and Varun Gullapalli, the Mental Health Awareness Group is pushing the school in a positive direction.

The students involved in the group worked hard to create the group, finding their own sponsor.

“I helped co-found the group with my friend Bella Moran. We went to a conference of leadership for D127, and they had a mental health unit that we were very excited for, but we felt it was not all what it was supposed to be. They didn’t talk about self improvement or how to help others, it was more of another person’s story that was loosely related to mental health, and I thought that was really unfair and there was no conversation happening that is truly being discussed surrounding mental health. We reached out to a few people in the district to ask how we can make a difference in the school to promote mental health awareness,” Gullapalli said.

“I am the sponsor essentially, but it is a student run organization club, so my role is just an advisor. It really is run by Bella Moran and Varun Gullapalli, so really they take the lead on all their pieces. I really just review everything and give them guidance as needed and I am there for all of their meetings,” said sponsor Roxanne Bristow.

The goal for the group is to provide a place for students to talk and relate to each other about challenges they face as a group.

“Our goal overall is to just get more people involved, and we want people to realize that being mentally healthy is so important. We know people suffer from depression and anxiety, and we want everyone to know that that’s okay. It’s not something you should be ashamed of, and we want to embrace anyone who is going through it with us,” said senior member Danielle Broege.

“Obviously to promote mental health, Bella and I also created a student-led support group for Mental Health Matters, and through that, it is all about shared experiences. We vent, talk about stuff, and do activities to make everyone feel better. One thing we really realized is how similar we all are,” Gullapalli said.

A recent project that MHM is working on is the Post-Its of positivity. The idea behind this is to motivate students with uplifting notes. Since it is mid-semester, students and staff tend to get stressed out.

“Right now, the campaign that they have is the Post-It notes of positivity. They’re doing that on the black board by the TVs outside the cafeteria. (It is) really designed to do what it says. They are going to go around at lunch and asking people to write positive notes for each other, and those are going to go on that board. It’s getting toward the end of March, so students are starting to feel stress, so hopefully it’ll give more positivity and encouragement,” Bristow said.

The people involved in the group are so passionate about their work and are genuine in promoting mental health.

“My favorite part is that it is really student-led. I really just do some of the logistical and administrative pieces, so really it falls to Bella and Varun and the other leaders within the group. So it’s been nice to see them really take that leadership and own the club for themselves and watch them succeed,” Bristow said.

The group is a majority of seniors who are involved in many other school activities. It is important to gather more members so they can stay standing for future years.

“Right now they are new, so it’s trying to gain recognition so they can get continued memberships. We need membership to stay consistent to be renewed for the next few years, so we are trying to gain student support and have more people join us,” Bristow said.

The club is standing all year, and students can join at any time. They are aware that students have other commitments but appreciate any time put toward the group.

“I think it is something that is run by students for the student perspective, which isn’t always how we see things in schools in general, and so I think that’s really kind of a unique piece for it’s a good way to talk through things especially with the stress from the last few years. It’s a good place to spread positivity and really get conversations and support from other students,” Bristow said.