Students helping students – Thriving Minds brings the holiday spirit

December 20, 2023

Thriving Minds club is giving out hot chocolate during all lunches on Dec. 22

Owatonna Thriving Minds is a mental health advocacy club that is new to OHS this year. The club has grown to over 100 students involved in its advocacy since the beginning of the school year. Thriving Minds students’ goal is to contribute to mental health understanding within the community.

Thriving Minds students have held a handful of events that support their mission including memorial games, suicide prevention walks, lantern lighting and handing out candy and stickers during lunch to honor classmates.Thriving Minds holds monthly informational meetings before school to plan out future events and give a chance to open the club to other students.

The inspiration for the club comes from the impact mental illnesses have made in OHS. Senior and club member Jaedynn Tjon said, “Jose Rosas came up with the idea as all the initial club members were closely impacted by former student Dylan Lauwers.” The final goal, starting with OHS, is to help break the stigma of mental health and bring attention to the fact it can affect anyone.

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It was him and the fact that he had six other kids with him at the time that were all excited and passionate about it made it a lot easier for me to answer.”

— Adviser William Blechschmidt

Jose Rosas and the other students who currently serve on the club’s board personally selected Mr. William Blechschmidt, an OHS teacher, to be the adviser. Mr. Blechschmidt said, “It was him and the fact that he had six other kids with him at the time that were all excited and passionate about it made it a lot easier for me to answer.” While being a new club they are still looking to inspire change and help as many students.

With the holidays coming up, Thriving Minds recognizes it can be hard for students to be in high spirits for those who don’t have homes, family or any events to look forward to. Club members are holding another event giving hot chocolate, candy canes and gratitude notes to students during their lunch periods on Dec. 22 going into winter break.

Owatonna Thriving Minds is always looking to expand their club. Students can join by sending an email to adviser Mr. Blechschmidt, messaging the Thriving Minds Instagram account and attending the monthly meetings. Thriving Minds will be holding their next meeting before school Jan. 4 at 7:30 a.m.

UPDATE: The event is happening, but candy canes will be handed out instead of cocoa.

About the Contributor

Crystal Garza, Writer

Crystal Garza is a senior this year at OHS. This will be her second year on Magnet as a writer. In school Garza is involved in Key Club, Link Crew, and Young Life. Outside of school Garza has a job at the Target Starbucks and babysits. Garza enjoys hanging out with her friends, family, and her dog Toby. Other than friends and family she spends money shopping, often rearranges her room, and likes to lay down to read a book while listening to music. Although her career path has changed throughout the years. In the future Garza would like to pursue a career in sports medicine, being a physical therapist or an athletic trainer. Garza joined Magnet to help her writing skills and get more involved in what's going on in OHS. Garza is looking forward to another fun year in Magnet.