Canandigua, NY – It’s okay to ask for help.
Caroline Healey, a junior at Canandigua Academy, who suffers from anxiety, did by reaching out to counselors earlier in the year when the pandemic made her anxiety exacerbate. Caroline said they were helpful, and she is grateful that they, as well as the teachers, were able to help her with schoolwork and direct her toward the resources at her disposal.
“I’m much better now,” Caroline said.
May is Mineral Health Awareness Month. With the COVID-19 pandemic, young people’s mental health concerns have risen nationally – so much so that the Surgeon General has urged a call to action to address young people’s mental health concerns.
Caroline and others are interfering with the schools and community of Canandaigua – literally. She and many others in the school community co-planned and announced the 10am-4pm Mental Health Walk on Sunday at the Canandigua Academy Track, the culmination of Kindness Week in Canandigua Schools.
The event is part of a mission to stop the stigma surrounding mental health, according to Lynne Ducharme, principal school counselor for grades K-12.
Proceeds benefit from Finger Lakes Family Counseling Service, an agency that provides professional counseling and support services to individuals, children, and families.
“Our students have faced many challenges over the past three years with the pandemic and our shifts in education from virtual to hybrid and back to in-person education,” Ducharme said in an email. “They have been resilient in many ways through these changes, but it wasn’t easy and they had to Most of our students learn to reconnect socially.”
Some common mental health challenges include loneliness, anxiety and depression.
SEL classes aim to teach elementary and elementary students the skills and abilities needed to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, feel and show empathy, and achieve personal goals.
In middle school, classroom orientation lessons on the topic of mental health are offered through the seventh grade health class as well as through counseling lessons.
At the high school level, only this year was an Adolescent Mental Health First Aid training program offered as part of the health curriculum.
“Our current 10th graders were the first to receive this training and we plan to continue that next year with the goal that all students who graduate from California eventually get it,” Ducharme said.
Schools also participate in the Strengths Program, a youth suicide prevention project. Its mission is to prevent suicide by increasing help-seeking behaviors and strengthening bonds between peers and caring adults. Ducharme said peer leaders reinforce the protective factors associated with reducing suicide.
“Our goal is to spread awareness of the importance of caring for the mental health of every child,” Ducharme said. “Positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development.”
As for walking in the rain or shine, Ducharme said, people don’t need to be present all the time. In addition to food and music trucks, local mental health agencies will have tables set up to provide information. Gift baskets were donated from local businesses for a silent auction.
“We encourage people to come for an hour and walk in an effort to raise awareness,” Ducharme said.
Caroline said building awareness will help others.
There should be no stigma around asking for help. And she was encouraged to learn that many in the school community had already committed to Sunday walks.
“If people know there are resources and help, there’s no need to be shy about it,” Caroline said. “It’s okay to ask for help.”
More details
To register for the rally, visit https://bit.ly/CAMentalHealthWalk. Here is a link to learn more about the Adolescent Mental Health First Aid Training Program: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/population-focused-modules/teens/. For more information about the Strengths Program, visit https://sourcesofst Strength.org/.