Thriving Minds is a brand new club at OHS this year. This club was started by Jose Rosas and a select group of seniors. The club’s leaders reached out to health teacher, Mr. William Blechschmidt over the summer because they wanted to advocate for mental health at the high school.
The main reason that started the idea for this club is the passing of one of their classmates. Senior Jaedynn Tjon, a leader of this club, said, “Most of us were impacted by the death of Dylan Lauwers and we all became really big mental health advocates.” Lauwers passed away in 2021 due to suicide which caused the community to come together, and bring a higher awareness to mental health.
The purpose of this club is to help spread awareness and educate members and others, along with trying to break the stigma of mental health. They also want to try and make an environment where people feel comfortable to talk to one another. They are hoping that this will be a good resource for students to come to. One of the most impactful ways to improve someone’s mental health is to have a good social structure and a community that they can trust in. Mr. Blechshmidt said, “I think this club can provide that for a lot of students that are looking for ways to improve their mental health and to advocate for others.”
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Recently on Sunday, Oct. 15, the club had a lantern lighting event that took place at Lake Kohlmeier. People were given a lantern and they got to write something that they had been struggling with that was heavy on their heart. They then lit those lanterns and they were released into the sky. This brought ease to people’s worries and anxieties.
Another event that they have coming up is on Friday, Nov. 17 where they will be handing goodie bags during lunches to advocate for national suicide awareness day.
If students want to be a part of this club you can attend meetings on the first Thursday of every month at 7:30 a:m and join the schoology 5X4V-2WZD-26C74. Their next meeting is on Thursday Nov. 9 in the foundation room. They also have T-shirts for sale that you can buy for $5.
