On Friday, March 6th, the Rice community gathered for Mental Health Awareness Day, holding space for conversations about mental health through speakers and workshops.

This day began conceptually with Sydney Adreon (class of 23’) and the Hope Happens Here club. “Hope Happens Here was a club I started to raise mental health awareness in the wider Rice community,” says Adreon, “When I started the club in 2021-22, I never expected it to grow as much as it did.”

Mental health day stemmed from Adreon’s visions, and together faculty and students throughout the summer and fall planned the day.

 “When we choose speakers and volunteers, we always ask ourselves what will be most beneficial for teens’ mental health,” says senior and student leader Lillian Ehlers. “We try to make sure the workshops cover a wide range of topics so that everyone can find something meaningful. Some students may want to sit down and have deeper conversations, while others might benefit more from something active and fun, like releasing endorphins through a game of snow golf.”

Genevieve Trono, the librarian at Rice, as well as a main faculty leader to the day, adds to this, “When planning the day we wanted students to slow down and be able to take care of themselves, and by this we wanted to make it accessible and not intimidating.”

To start this year’s event, students gathered in the gym to watch a performance by the band No Speed Limit, featuring students Maddie Olson, Gabe McAlarney, and Sergio Sotomonte-Hammond. 

After their performance concluded, Drew Farrell, Rice Memorial High School’s first-ever Wellness Counselor, introduced the day, explaining that is it for everyone: those who are thriving, those who are struggling, and those in between.

“I hope that somewhere in this day you’re able to take away something for a workshop or the future you might be able to express the joy that you have in you right now in a way that is contagious to the people around you,” Farrell said.  “And for those that aren’t feeling OK. Today. For you, I would say, let this day carry you. Let the passion and the energy of the presenters and the people around you help you through the day and you just let it speak to that place in your spirit that is in such pain right now.”

After Farrell’s introduction, Tom Murphy, an ex-MMA fighter turned anti-bullying speaker, entered into the gym and introduced the Youth Leadership Team he founded called Sweethearts and Heroes. 

He started his presentation by saying, “I hate fighting.” While that may seem counter-intuitive because he used to be an MMA fighter, he continued saying, “I never solved my problems that way, and I never will. But that’s not why I’m here. I came to talk about our character. I came to talk about how we treat other people.”

During his presentation, he described the five “Bully Buttons”, or ways students and teachers can prevent bullying.

The Bully Buttons mentioned perspective, H.O.P.E. (Hold On Possibilities Exist), sweethearts, “Jump into Action”, and Heroes. With guest speaker Rick Yarosh, a Veteran who fought in Iraq, personal stories, and many student volunteers, Murphy left students to reflect and step into Rice’s theme of empathy.

“I think both speakers were super engaging, their stories were empowering, and left me to reflect on how I can better support those around me and continue to gain new perspectives,” expressed senior Peyton Borrick excitedly. “It made me want to put more effort into being the ‘sweetheart’ that Rick talked about.”

After the speakers concluded, students were ushered out of the gym to get cookies from Cookie Love and sent to their first workshop. 

Workshops were led by Rice staff and community members. Students had a variety of options from yoga and stress relief through the senses, to snow golf and mindfulness movement.

Two notable workshops were held by Murphy and Yarosh where they participated in “a circle”, a small group sharing activity. They gathered around to share more about themselves and their own “sweetheart”, a person who helped them during a time of struggle.

Some workshops were led by students.

“Having the opportunity to lead one of the ‘Money and Mental Health’ workshops was a great experience!” expressed senior Lily Collins.  “It was really interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts on the different things that can contribute to mental health, and I felt like I got to provide my classmates with some tips on how to develop good financial habits. I think it’s important to talk about every aspect of mental health, especially because practicing certain habits can be really helpful later in life.” 

Following the students leaving, the staff gathered in the gym to participate in the circle workshop led by Murphy and Yarosh, a time that led to connection and new understandings of one another.

“We delved into questions that made us more reflective and introspective, for example, who is one of your ‘superheros’ in life,” shared math teacher Gretchen Fricke-Langan. “It became clear as each one of us shared our answers to these thoughtful questions that none of us is alone in our struggles.  By learning this about one another, we are better able to be there for each other.  What a great way to end the day, knowing that there is always someone there for you.”