By: Hannah Sanborn High school is often a tough time for many students; prepping for the future while coping with expectations and pressures can certainly take its toll. Changing the way a school community values and discusses mental health is one of the most important stages toward ensuring that every student is heard and understood. For junior Neha Kukatla, mental health awareness is more than just acknowledgement; it represents an essential attitude of knowledge and compassion, qualities which she said she felt were missing upon students’ return to school after the pandemic. “Covid-19 took a big hit on everyone’s mental health, causing most to come back from the pandemic as completely different people,” Kukatla said. “The pandemic’s effect on people in this way impacted the school atmosphere and dynamic, and the change was evident. I wanted to do something about this.” And she did. In her sophomore year, Kukatla founded Active Minds, a club that aims to raise mental health awareness and improve the mental health of the community. Since then, Active Minds has contributed largely to the schoolwide shift toward greater mental health awareness, a change Kukatla is thrilled to see. “Since starting Active Minds, there has been a dramatic improvement in the state of mental health awareness at our school,” Kukatla said. “I love how Active Minds brings students together through fun activities and events, and also allows us to teach our community about mental health. I am proud of the change we have made so far.” Dr. Steve Burnett, student services counselor, has also been a leading proponent of stressing the importance of mental health awareness. As the club’s advisor, Burnett is in a unique position to see the group’s impact. “It is amazing to see so many young adults recognizing a piece of us that is so important to growing up to be healthy, happy, and successful,” Burnett said. “Our culture has done a poor job of recognizing the one thing that separates us from other animals – our brain. Mental health is simply about brain health. Can you think of a more important cause?” According to Burnett, the club has participated in fundraisers, and food drives, adopted a family, made blankets for Project Linus for children in hospitals, and promoted the Student Assistance Program to allow for confidential drug and alcohol referrals, along with fun events. Members have made slime for stress relief, hosted an adult coloring activity and ice cream social, and created posters to increase awareness of the club’s aims. “Active Minds’ purpose is to bring a fun way to care for everyone with a servant's heart,” Burnett added. “We have a fantastic group of students (40 to 80 per meeting) that come together to help others. That’s a lot of student power to implement our vision and mission. Everyone in the club recognizes the importance and impact that our mental health has on each of us and others. This recognition allows us to really care for others and ourselves.” The club, entirely student-led, is a chapter of the National Active Minds Organization and is headed by Kukutla and fellow juniors Mira Harp and Katina Mo. Most recently, the group has collaborated with external organizations like EduGirls and Project Linus, an organization that provides handmade blankets to children aged 0-18 in the United States who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. In December, Active Minds members raised money to purchase materials to make the blankets. A project coordinator from Project Linus then attended several meetings and led an in-school workshop. According to Kukatla, about 50 members worked to make and donate 20 blankets to children in homeless shelters. “I truly enjoyed participating in the blanket project,” said club member Tommy Hwang. “It was a fun and relaxing way to unwind, and I felt like it was a small thing I could do to make a real impact in the community.” As for benefitting the school community, Active Minds recently began the Student Assistance Program, an intervention program that provides a systematic procedure of early identification, referral, and follow-up for students displaying potentially unsafe behaviors related to involvement with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Students are encouraged to complete referral forms and drop them off in a locked box located in the back corner of the media center. Once the form is reviewed, Burnett works with the student’s counselor to collect more information before a plan is created to best assist the student in need. “I started it because I see how alcohol and drugs are impacting so many people’s lives negatively, including people I know and care about,” Kuktula explained. “I want to do something about the crisis to help people get help.” High school is not always the easiest place to address mental health, but groups like Active Minds are helping to reduce the stigma. Under Kukatla’s vision, the club aims to continue to open up the conversation about mental health and create lasting change in the way mental health is talked about, cared for, and valued in the United States. “I wanted to start a group where we can acknowledge mental health in a society where it is often disregarded, and I am extremely proud of how far we have come,” Kukatla said.
2 Comments
Raina Shah
4/26/2024 05:14:51 pm
Yay!!
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Neha Kukatla
8/31/2024 08:08:41 pm
❤️❤️
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