Our Minds Matter (OMM)  is a new student-led club that seeks to raise awareness about mental health and its stigmas among the school community through campaigns and projects.

The club is being started by a group of students who want to reach out to others affected by mental health issues. The club partnered with a world-wide organization known as Our Minds Matter which focuses on help-seeking behaviors and informative activities about mental wellness.

“Students are wildly misinformed about the topic, and many people don’t know how to look for help or don’t know when to or are ashamed to. The idea of this club is to stop this, and rather have a more positive and less stigmatized version of mental health,” Sofia Gomez, Grade 10, said.

The current leaders and founders of the club are Sofia Gomez (10), Maria Jose Garces (12) and Sofia Duque (12). The leaders are accompanied by their co-leaders, seniors Maria Paz Arias, Sofia Palau, Manuela Perez and Francesca Raseni. Teacher sponsors are counselors Ana Garcia and Andres Rendon. 

“I believe that the work that Ana and Andres do is absolutely amazing because any one of us can fall back on them. However, they are very strict about not doing our work, but rather guiding us in how we do it. I think that’s the best way a club sponsor can help its leaders,” Gomez said.

The first meeting was in December 2021, members learned the structure of the club and dynamic for their project based work. First campaign presentation was on February 14 2022, members signed up to create projects and do in depth research on this month’s topic, still, the campaign isn’t currently in progress.

“I think that our progress could have been more if the school year wouldn’t have been so heavy on us because next to virtual school, this school year has been very hard academically,” Gomez said.

The club structure has been changing since the club began, currently it will work by monthly campaigns. Still, participating in the monthly campaigns is optional. The decision of each member relies on their current workload and availability. This system is in place to make sure the projects don’t become a burden for students which can deteriorate their mental health.

“This structure has yet to be materialized, therefore I feel it is still very loose, very recent, very weak and fragile,” Andres Rendon, TCS counselor, said.

The next campaign focuses on stress vs anxiety. Members who sign up  will have to research definitions, misconceptions and stigmas of stress and anxiety, then  begin an awareness process of creating small videos, advisory presentations and social media content to spread the message to the community. Aspirations for future projects include a partnership with Girl Up.

“We have paused this project because of school activities that have been really difficult to plan in regards to, like cosmun and the robotics competition. So it’s possible that this campaign will be next month’s campaign,” Gomez said.

Prior to the presentation, various students showed interest about the subject and the initiative which currently counts with approximately 60 members. Even though the official sign up has closed, students can still contact one of the leaders to be part of the campaigns. 

“I believe the team is a very new club. I believe we’re just still making advancements and making ideas. I believe that in the future, it’s going to be a great club and multiple people are gonna join.” Pasual Cardozo, Grade 10, said.