ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio — Mental health awareness took center court in St. Clairsville on Wednesday as students watched a one-of-a-kind volleyball matchup and heard a message aimed at building resilience and hope.
Bob Holmes, known as the “one-man volleyball team,” faced off against middle school and high school students in a many-on-one volleyball game. After playing the students, Holmes spoke with them about a range of issues, including resisting peer pressure, bullying, drugs, alcohol, vaping and online predators.
The assembly comes at a critical time for the district, which has lost four students to suicide in the past four years. Holmes said he hoped to help change that trajectory by focusing on how students think and how they respond to negative messages.
“Everything they do starts with the mind, how they think. If they’re being told, like, they’re ugly, they’ll just automatically believe it,” Holmes said.
“A lot of it is formed in the mind, and that’s why we want to reprogram their minds so that they can think ‘hope’ and that they don’t have to give up, ever.”
Mental health awareness efforts will continue in St. Clairsville on Thursday at 6 p.m. with a “Night of Hope” event featuring Holmes and others.
More information is available here.