Mental health convocation

Homework, activities, clubs, and more are pieces of a puzzle that connect to make high school a memorable experience for everyone. However, there is a difference between balancing activities to make a mandatory part of life more enjoyable versus becoming overwhelmed with too many responsibilities. This, of course, is excluding any other issues and difficulties one may be going through outside of school.

In high school, the line between responsibility and excess stress is thin and can add to the struggles a growing young adult can have with their mental health.

Members from the group Remedy Live from Get Schooled came to Mt. Vernon on Monday, September 10th to talk about just that: how important the mental health of students can be, and how together everyone can face their problems. The term Secret Struggle, as Remedy Live dubbed it, was used to describe these issues. The speaker, Clinton Faupel, was different in how he presented a difficult topic like this and offered assistance to students who were having a hard time.

Instead of standing up front, telling sad stories and telling high schoolers not to be depressed or harm themselves, Faupel spoke in a kind, calm manner, but also was energetic, and had a bubbly personality. Along with this positive energy, there was a performer there as well, singing about these deep problems, while still keeping the mood light.

There were also interactive questions students could anonymously answer on their phones, and the statistics would go up on a board in front of everyone. The results spoke for themselves, though he analyzed them with students, showing how large percentages of the student body had felt depressed at some point in high school and had had thoughts of harm to themselves. While this was difficult for some to talk about, the endpoint came across: that students do not have to go through these feelings alone, and that they are not the only ones feeling this way.

“I thought the presentation had a large impact and was beneficial for our students,” said Mr. Roach, principal of MV. “I had several staff members and students tell me that it was the best convocation they had ever seen. I thought overall it went very well.”

Students were also appreciative of this different type of assembly.

“It was eye-opening,” said Luke Rappe, 11. “It helped people relate to their peers, which I think was important that everyone saw they had similar problems, and that it was okay to ask for help.”

This convocation was a way to show that faculty and staff care about its students, how they feel about life and what they are going through. Hopefully, this is not the last MV sees of an assembly such as this one.