Since Upper School Counselor Mary Bonsu joined the school, she has made a tremendous impact on the lives of Marksmen and the counseling department; in fact, she was instrumental in the development of the brand new Marksmen Wellness Center and recently created Men’s Mental Health Week.
Starting last year with the help of the Student Council, Men’s Mental Health Week helps to educate Upper School Marksmen on the importance of having good mental health and provides strategies for students to cope with stress or other emotions that contribute to poor mental health. Last year’s week focused specifically on issues related to the mental health of young men; however, Dr. Bonsu and the Mindful for Life club have made several changes so each Mental Health Week will not be the same as the previous year.
“This year, we’re changing it up and calling it Mental Health Awareness Week,” Dr. Bonsu said. “We still want to have a week in March where we focus on mental health, and the focus (this year) is teen mental health. So that way, we look at both the perspectives of girls and boys (from) a variety of different perspectives on mental health and how it affects people from a diverse background.”
Mental Health Awareness Week will happen from March 25 – 28, and the Mindful for Life club has planned several activities throughout the week. These activities help keep students engaged in learning the strategies and other tips to help deal with stress.
“We have an assembly for ninth and 10th graders after school and we have a school-wide Kahoot during advisory on Monday,” Dr. Bonsu said. “Tuesday we’re going to be handing out stress management bags to different students across campus, and then on Wednesday, there’s a very small thing at Chapel and then there’s also something after school which is the roundtable. It’s going to be that kind of style where the students get to come and have their voices elevated around topics related to mental health, and this year’s focus is on vulnerability.”
All of these events hope to help students grapple with their mental health and introduce platforms for further discussions in the future.
