Every spring, the school’s Student Government Association chooses a topic they deem important to be the theme of their spring project. This year, the school’s SGA spring project focused on mental, physical and social wellness.
The last couple of weeks were hectic for members of the SGA as they worked in pairs to make this project as beneficial to the Wootton community as possible. “We all worked together and created something great,” senior SGA member Grace Henschel said.
From Mar. 18 to Mar. 22, a variety of displays made by the SGA were exhibited in the Commons for students to see before school, during lunch and after school. These displays focused on different aspects of mental health, physical health and social well-being. “SGA did a good job on the displays in the Commons,” sophomore Eleni Jones said.
On Mar. 19, SGA members presented slideshows to English classes that displayed information and statistics about mental, physical and social wellness. After the presentations were over, students were given the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the topic. “I thought it was a very relevant and important topic that needed to be talked about,” junior SGA member Evan McLaughlin said.
The finale to the SGA spring project took place on Mar. 22. Speaker Jeff Yalden came to the school to talk about his struggle with mental illness and the obstacles he has overcome throughout the years. Yalden talked about his personal battle with self-esteem issues and how he got past them. “If you take care of who you are, how you look will take care of itself,” Yalden said.
Through sad stories, motivational quotes and even a few jokes, Yalden was an inspiration to the student body. Yalden devoted his day to the school and spoke to students who wanted to hear more of what he had to say during lunch. Yalden speaks at schools around the country and implements his personal mantra: Take Time to Think.
In addition to Yalden, Sue Rosenstock spoke to the students via video. She is the mother of former Montgomery County student Evan Rosenstock, who committed suicide in 2013. In the wake of her son’s death, Rosenstock founded umttr, an organization that raises money to bring awareness to suicide and aims to remind everyone that his or her life matters. The SGA picked umttr as the organization that will receive all the proceeds from this year’s spring project. “I think umttr was the perfect choice because it saves lives everyday,” Henschel said.
