Offered as part of a suite of programs designed to educate students on a variety of topics that often aren’t covered in the regular curriculum, ranging from bullying and tolerance to climate change and personal finance, the mental health program is presented by a PESA staffer or social worker intern and can be tailored to students of all ages. These presentations are made available to educators upon request.
With this new school year finally seeing the return of in-class instruction, two dedicated young PESA intern case managers—Star Cuellar and Cassandra Orozco— recently made the presentation to 11th and 12th graders at Los Angeles Leadership Academy. The fact that students have spent so much time away from a physical classroom and without peer-to-peer interaction due to the pandemic has made the need for such instruction all the more pressing. And while the topic of mental health and mental illness can be sensitive, the fact that the presenters themselves aren’t all that far apart in age from the students allows for a rapport and an open discussion that might otherwise be difficult to achieve.
“We’re still getting comfortable talking about these things, having these conversations,” says Cuellar, a senior at Cal State University Long Beach majoring in social work and minoring in psychology. “The stigma about mental health is hardcore, especially for high school students, who have so much at stake as it is. If they wear the “wrong” shoes, they’re made fun of forever, not to mention if they’re experiencing anxiety or some other mental health issue.”
That sentiment is echoed by Orozco, who earned her undergraduate degree in criminology and criminal justice and is pursuing her masters in social work, all at CSULB. She brings not only her academic experience to the presentations but, sadly, some real world experience. “When I was in high school, one of my classmates died by suicide, but the school did a great job responding to it. They brought in outside counselors and a speaker who had had a previous attempt and ended up making a documentary about it that’s on Netflix. We spent a lot of time, in assemblies and presentations, talking about how taboo this issue is.”
The overarching goal here? To inform students that anyone can experience mental health issues at any time, that it’s completely normal and, most importantly, that there are resources available to help in a time of need.
Educators interested in having a presentation on this or a host of other topics for their students should contact Araksya Nordikyan.
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