On Sept. 5-8, Yellow Ribbon Week, a national suicide prevention and awareness movement whose goal is to ensure all people have access to help, was held at LHS.
In the past, Erika’s Lighthouse, a club that spreads awareness about teen depression and offers support to students who are struggling in the community, has taken on the role of running Yellow Ribbon Week at LHS. This year, Life of a Wildcat partnered with Erika’s Lighthouse to help celebrate this week.
“Life of a Wildcat got involved in the week because their goal is to support a healthy lifestyle for all students at LHS,” said senior Emily Stone. “[The students involved in Life of a Wildcat] are all-encompassing of being the healthiest version of you and most often that starts with your own mental health.”
To start the celebration, students had the opportunity to come to school on Friday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. to help decorate the hallways with streamers and paint windows with words of support around the school.
To kick start the week itself on Tuesday, Sept. 6, Life of a Wildcat showed the clip “Let’s Talk about Mental Health” by YouTuber Jack Harries, which addresses the stigma behind mental health in society today and why it needs to end. The clip was shown on Wakeup Wildcats during third period.
Throughout the week, Life of a Wildcat and Erika’s Lighthouse sat outside the cafeteria and provided various opportunities for students to get involved in Yellow Ribbon Week.
On Tuesday, students and staff members could get a yellow ribbon pin to wear around the school to show support for the cause. Wednesday, there was a banner for students to sign and write messages on, which is now displayed outside the cafeteria. Therapy dogs came to Dr. Brenda Nelson’s room for students to visit on Thursday. On Friday, all students and staff were asked to wear yellow as a final show of support for the week.
There was also a penny wars competition outside the cafeteria all week that had each grade competing to see who could collect the most pennies. According to Stone, who sat at the table during her lunch period, the competition raised almost $200, which went to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Besides the activities outside the cafeteria, Dr. Nelson, the prevention and wellness coordinator, sent emails to teachers with scripts and discussion topics for class. Teachers were asked to talk to their classes about ways they deal with stress, the importance of mental health, what they’re grateful for and other topics relating to mental health.
