Mental Health Week Kicks It Virtually!

By: Haley Michelson

Though everything this year is virtual, Redwood was able to participate in mental health week overall bringing awareness to the subject as well as letting students gain resources for help and to learn more on the subject.

Mrs. Aston, Redwood’s Activities Director, with the help of a few students, made mental health week happen virtually this year.

Aston looks at mental health week as a way “[the purpose] to educate and increase awareness about mental illness.” This way, she says “to show students that they are not alone.” In regards to everything being virtual this year, there are some challenges she and her students had to face in order to make this happen.

As she says “it is extremely hard…we can only share so much on social media,” beginning to know the struggle behind bringing this week to light as many don’t have social media.

Mrs.Aston relied on a few of her students to put all of this on with their help; Bara Hussin,’23, and Jasmine Shupe, ‘21. She says she “hopes students will take time to check in with their friends,” as this is a big step in helping others during this difficult time.

Hussin, ‘23, says “(she) enjoys being a part of mental health week, advocating for mental health situations,” claiming finding ways to cope has been proven to benefit others as well as yourself. She says “putting attention on mental health can improve souls…mental health is a serious situation that needs to be focused on everyday.”

She believes everyone should check up on eachother and says “it wouldn’t hurt to take five minutes out of your day to check up on others.”

Shupe, ‘21, says “(she) feels very included” and appreciates that the school “is trying to make everyone aware of these issues people face daily.” She says “mental health is very important and we should continue doing this yearly.”

As mental health takes a toll on many, Shupe says “Mental health used to be something no one talked about…(a whole week dedicated to mental health) shows how much society has proved with this topic.”

Mental health week was very informational and brought awareness to many things, as this is such an important topic it had been a nice way to help others understand what many go through on a daily basis.