Mental health continues nationwide, the Waseca community is finding ways to spread awareness and eliminate the stigma.
For the second straight year, the Waseca County Suicide Prevention Cohort will encourage the community to wear green on a Thursday in May. School districts around the area are planning to promote staff and students to wear green May 16 to show support for mental health and suicide prevention.
In January 2023, the Waseca County Suicide Prevention Cohort was formed to raise awareness for mental health resources in the county. To start off their mission, members encouraged everyone in Waseca County to wear green on May 11 for a “Green Out.” After the success of that first run, the cohort decided to repeat the tactic in 2024.
Waseca County Public Health Educator and Planner Colin Ayers, an organizer of the cohort, went to the Waseca County Board of Commissioners meeting April 16 to recommend that the board designate May 16, 2024 as Waseca County Mental Health Awareness Day. The board voted on and approved the same thing last year.
The cohort will once again encourage people to wear green and hang up green lights in support of the cause. The national symbol for mental health awareness is a green ribbon.
“There was a lot of participation last year from community members and businesses,” Ayers said. “We’ve been asked if we are going to do another event like this again. That is why we’re advocating to have Thursday May 16, 2024 as another green out day in Waseca County.”
The Board of Commissioners once again unanimously to approve.
School district leaders plan to encourage their staff and students to wear green May 16, and the cohort is excited for another opportunity to raise awareness of the work the local schools and providers have been doing to support youth.
On top of the green out day, the Waseca Public School District works year round to make sure that students know about the resources they have to help them with their mental health.
At the April 18 Waseca School Board meeting, Chair Dave Dunn brought up a survey done by principals in Minnesota and noted that it pointed to mental health as the biggest challenge for schools. Waseca Junior Senior High School Principal Dr. Jason Miller agreed.
“It’s come a long way as far as people not having as much stigma within their understanding of mental health, but I definitely think there’s a lot of things that influence student’s mental health, and I think we’re still seeing ripples from the pandemic and isolation,” Miller said.
Social media is also a huge factor in how mental health is affected, not just in students, but adults who didn’t grow up with it as well. Miller said that the district, specifically the junior and senior high school, has a great team of professionals who work together and find resources to help students.
Miller also noted that having a coordinator from Fernbrook Family Center has really benefited the students, even though there is a huge waitlist for its services. Dr. Brooke McGuire, director of teaching and learning at Waseca, stated that outside of the resources that Fernbrook and school counselors give, teachers also can incorporate mental health awareness in their lessons.
“Some of the professional development that we’ve done with teachers, too, helps to even incorporate that in the content, because the content is important, but also addressing some of those needs within what they’re doing instructionally,” McGuire said.
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