May is Mental Health Awareness Month. To commemorate, Van Nuys High School’s Psychiatric Social Workers Ms. Katherine Stockly and Ms. Karina Lares hosted a variety of events to help students practice different mindfulness techniques.
“This month has really been targeted to work on promoting the use of coping skills to improve wellness,
— Ms. Lares
The PSWs kicked off the month with Tea Day on May 9 where students were able to grab a cup of tea in the morning by the lecture hall and the quad.
As the month progressed, they continued to host other events in the quad, such as mindful coloring and bubble day to help students learn new mindfulness skills and coping techniques.
The events that will be taking place this week are the “Kindness Chalk Event” on May 23 and “Build Your Own Succulent Garden” event on May 26. Both will take place during lunch in the quad.
Those that participate in the events enjoy themselves in addition to learning from them.
“I think the students that we do reach are very engaged and involved with it,” Ms. Stockly said.
While the events are centered around mental health, they also allow students to interact with their peers.
“That’s really what we’re trying to promote, not only the use of these coping skills but the building of a school community,” Ms. Lares said.
Ms. Lares and Ms. Stockly hope to make what they did this month an annual occurrence and wish to receive student input when deciding what new events to host.
“We would like to center students’ voices and find out what they would think good events will be,” Ms. Stockly said.
