LEWISBURG — Dozens of students mingled through a crowded room at the Miller Center on Tuesday morning, wearing t-shirts with a simple, circular design that spoke to everyone at the youth mental health summit: We’re all in this together.
The event was hosted by the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit’s AWARE IMPACT team and its mental health intern, Colin Geise, a senior at Danville.
“This is such an amazing event. There is so much emotion going through this room,” Sierra Carl, an emotional support teacher at Shamokin High School, said. “It’s definitely shining a light on mental health. The good news is we are getting more accepting, we’re opening up to talk about it.”
Several hundred students and teachers from across CSIU’s footprint of 17 school districts and three career tech centers filled the Miller Center. They were greeted by numerous vendors or community outreach programs, on hand with different activities all related to mental health in one form or another. The activities included Play-Doh, therapy animals, puzzles and games.
Guest speakers Chaz Perez and Dr. Anne Marie Morse spoke on different themes; Perez discussed “turning pain into passion” and Morse highlighted what impact lack of sleep can have on learning.
“It’s clear when people come together, a lot can happen,” 18-year-old Central Columbia student Katie Wildgust said. “Past generations didn’t have this, but this (event) is normal now. It’s important to know you can come to these things and not be judged.”
Geisinger behavioral health care case manager Kim Beyer manned one of the tables students visited throughout the day. She said he was grateful for the opportunity to connect with students.
“People just don’t want to talk about mental health, but being in a community like this, kids can see, we’re not threatening,” Beyer said. “We’re interacting on a casual basis. It’s OK to come and talk to us.
“We’re just here to chat, to let them know there are resources out there, people who care.”
Shikellamy senior Lily Persing was part of a group of students creating posters filled with inspirational notes, offering messages of hope and wellness.
“It’s good to hear other people’s stories and how they can become our own,” she said. “We can take pieces of theirs and use it to impact our lives. Everyone is going through things and you think you are on your own, or the other people are dealing with it. But so many people around you are also going through it.”
The day’s theme — you belong in a circle — was something that resonated throughout the event.
“One of the speakers told us, ‘Part of your job is to be there when someone else is struggling,” Carl said. “You can hear that happening today.”