This issue’s club of the month is the Our Minds Matter club. “Our Minds Matter is a club to promote awareness of mental wellness and to help break the stigma of mental health issues,” says Ms. Gomperts (social worker), one of the sponsors of the Our Minds Matter club. The club meets every other Wednesday after school in Room 100.
During the meetings, the students participate in activities to try to get to know each other better and create a comfortable vibe. They do activities such as saying one good thing that happened to them that week or going around and asking each other questions that the club leaders create. The club is a safe space for anyone to come and be a part of. The members of the club help create a welcoming, happy environment, free of judgment. This club is behind the Sock it to Stigma which occurred during the past December.
The club is led by two seniors, Jojo DiScipio (12) and Olivia Rogers (12), who are very invested in all they do to help grow the club. “I think that people should join the club because it’s a place where we can talk to each other if we’re struggling mentally; and we talk to each other about how to treat these problems,” said Jojo, one of the original founders of this new club at FCHS. She herself struggles with her mental health and wanted to bring Our Minds Matter to FCHS to hopefully help others who struggle like her.
Our Minds Matter Is a county-wide club. It was originally created by the Josh Anderson Foundation, a foundation whose purpose is to give teenagers mental health education and resources to prevent suicide. The Josh Anderson Foundation’s Executive Director, Lauren Anderson, introduced Our MInds Matter in November 2016 and January 2017 to the FCPS Student Advisory Council.
Her efforts to spread the club in FCPS were successful as the Student Advisory Council helped get Our Minds Matter started in each
Fairfax County school. The overall goal of Our Minds Matter is to help increase help-seeking behavior, promote social connectedness, and to encourage self-care and healthy habits.
For Our Minds Matter, each month has a different focus. January is about respect, February is for healthy habits, and March is for coping skills. Our Minds Matter is always looking for new members and that can be you!