From dress up days to therapy dog visits to lunchtime crafts, Mental Health week, organized by Ms. Burget and the TOPS room, is here to break up the winter blues. During 4th and 5th hour lunches, students can participate in fun activities such as putting together sensory jars, making slime, and playing trivia.
Students and staff are also invited to take part in dress up days to promote awareness and a sense of community.
– Monday is PJ day, to represent self care.
– Twin day is on Tuesday to connect with others.
– Wear Black and White on Wednesday for suicide awareness.
– Dress up in Blue or Purple on Thursday for depression and anxiety awareness.
– Friday is a Green day for overall mental health awareness.
Be sure to follow them on Instagram – @Mayotopsroom – where the organizers will be posting daily questions, so make sure you check back regularly for a chance to win a prize.
Mental Health Week has had a huge influence on the work that the Mayo TOPS room members have done to promote mental health awareness and help students become more comfortable speaking about mental health. Ms. Burget, the TOPS room director, explains “we’ve been doing our own mental health week here at Mayo for a bit. We wanted to give students mental health positivity during our freezing winter.”
Sophomore Braylon Lamb shares his experience: “With tons of people involved with the TOPS room in Mayo it makes it so much easier to feel welcome, respected, and confident about the people and the problems I face with the support of the TOPS room.” This goes to show that the efforts the peer supporters put into mental health week truly pay off.
While every student can enjoy this week of fun and relaxation, it is important to appreciate the people who put everything together. Ms. Burget says, “ Our peer supporters have always done such a great job planning, advertising, and decorating for these kinds of things. It always brings a smile to my face, walking around the school and seeing flyers or artwork that people connected to the TOPS room produce.” Even other staff around the school, such as assistant principal Mrs. Ekert, notice the hard work the TOPS staff is doing. “The students in charge of making all the flyers to go around school and in our PBIS lessons always kill it with their work and work super hard for the TOPS room,” Mrs. Ekert said. A lot of the TOPS room members may work behind the scenes, but it definitely doesn’t go unnoticed.
Mental health week this year is set to be a success. Giving students a mental boost at the halfway point of the school year provides all students with an outlet to reset and tackle the start of a new semester. During this week students should embrace mental health awareness, and foster support and wellness together as a community.
