WJ has several opportunities for students to get involved with clubs, whether they are just trying to have a good time or working towards a good cause. WJ’s Sources of Strength Club falls into both categories.
The goal of Sources of Strength is to raise awareness about suicide prevention and support mental health initiatives among youth. They achieve this by teaching and participating in numerous mental health strategies such as mindfulness and arts and crafts.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 40% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year. This worrying data proves the necessity for change surrounding mental health.
Sources of Strength meets biweekly on Thursdays in room 106 where they engage in several activities that strive to better the mental health of others.
“At our meetings, we usually do activities aimed at promoting wellness. We do things like painting, making friendship bracelets and doing gratitude journals,” club president, senior Bella Rose Liu said. “At many meetings, we also prepare for our school-wide campaigns such as our National Suicide Prevention yellow ribbon campaign.”
Every school needs clubs that work towards important community goals. However, Sources of Strength goes one step further by trying to reach a greater number of students every year.
“Some of our biggest accomplishments are the mental health awareness and suicide prevention ribbons we pass out to students. We make them, hand them out for people to put on their backpacks and spread awareness about their meaning,” club president, senior Sophie Amalyan said.
Sources of Strength held their peer leadership training on Oct. 24 where they offered lessons on how to support peers who may face mental health challenges.
“The peer leadership training went super well and smooth; everyone had so much fun and people definitely learned some new things on mental health,” club leadership officer, junior Avery Bennett said.
This is a great opportunity for students to meet others with similar interests and learn about an important topic.
