ST. JOHNS, Mich. — A new labyrinth in St. Johns City Park is open to the public, the result of a collaboration between local high school students and a community coalition.
Students and a local coalition held a grand opening for a labyrinth in St. Johns City Park on Wednesday. The project was led by members of the St. Johns High School Youth Action Committee and the SJ Call-In Coalition.
The labyrinth is open to the public and intended as a space for reflection, stress relief and community connection.
WATCH: St. Johns students help to open labyrinth focused on mental health
St. Johns students help to open labyrinth focused on mental health
Wednesday, community members gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the labyrinth, a project led by members of the St. Johns High School Youth Action Committee and the St. Johns (or SJ) Call-In Coalition.
The idea came from Tess Miller, a board member with the SJ Call-In Coalition, who first walked a labyrinth as a teenager while on vacation and hoped to one day bring that experience to her community.
“It’s amazing. I never imagined that this could’ve happened,” Miller said. “I remembered that experience of walking the labyrinth as a teenager and I thought, hey, it might be kinda cool to put one in my backyard.”
The Youth Action Committee took on the project after surveying students about what their peers needed most.
“We found that students really needed somewhere to unwind because mental health has been a crisis, especially with the use of cellphones,” Rachel Jackson, an officer for the St. Johns High School Youth Action Committee, said.
Jackson said the space is designed to serve a range of needs.
“It can be religious, it can be just to get your mind off of things, or it can be a space for people to bond,” Jackson said.
Students say the labyrinth is meant to offer a place to slow down amid packed daily schedules.
“We’re at school all day and you just get work and then you go to practice and then maybe do stuff after that, you have work,” Nicholas Schafer, an officer for the Youth Action Committee, said.
Fellow committee officer Nolan Koenigsknecht said the goal is simple.
“The main purpose of it is just to come here, get your mind off things, think about really whatever you want,” Koenigsknecht said.
The Youth Action Committee plans to teach students across the district how the labyrinth can be used for reflection, stress relief and community building. The labyrinth is located in St. Johns City Park and is open to the public.
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