Many NHS students struggle with mental health, but two girls are working to educate students and truly make a difference.

According to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Health, 16.5 percent of American youth struggle with a mental health disorder, and almost 7 percent have depression. Students hear these statistics about mental health often in school; the problem is they never learn more.

Being a huge issue throughout the world, mental health has greatly affected many students at NHS. In the 2018-’19 school year, there were two student suicides. Both suicides affected families, friends and students all throughout the school. Administration worked with students as best as they could, but many found the way this was handled to be lacking.

Molly Ellmann-Johnson, class of 2022, and Grace Look, class of 2022, strongly felt the need for more, and they decided to do something about it. After these horrible events took place within the school, both girls concluded that they needed to better help the student body with mental health. They started the Mental Health Awareness and Perception project, a.k.a MAP.

For Look, the decision that she would do something was immediate, as if a light bulb went off in her head. She went home after a heavy-hearted day at NHS, and looked into training she could take to help those who were struggling. What she found was frightening — there was no training for minors. Look proceeded to write a strongly worded e-mail to NAMI, a mental health organization, about the lack of training for minors. She was told they would make and exception for her and provide her with training. Though this was her original goal, she realized how unfair it was. All minors should be able to receive the training, as they are the ones who spend time with their fellow minors who struggle with mental health, Look said. And so, Look’s journey began on further educating students about mental health.

The events within the school and they way they were handled started a fire in Ellmann-Johnson, and it made her realize that more needed to be done. She says that the school did not handle the situation as she wished they had. They talked about this for one day, and then moved on quickly, never truly making students aware of how big the problem was, Ellmann-Johnson said. She has struggled with mental illness personally, and she is thankful to be able to receive the help she has. It, however, is frustrating that others do not have access to these resources or will not find them without guidance. For example, she was never educated about mental illness until it started heavily affecting her. Her goal is to make it so that others are aware of mental health before it hits them as hard as it can.

The first hurdle they had to pass was how to start the project. Ellmann-Johnson joined Look for a meeting with Dr. Mike Altekruse, a mental health coordinator for NHS, where they ended up talking about this idea of over an hour and a half. Through this conversation, the girls were able to make a plan, and gain resources within the school. Soon MAP was born.

“We want to create a program that we can take from 3rd grade through 8th grade and teach students about mental health awareness,” Look said. In these grades, students spend time learning about the dangers of cigarettes and how to stay away from peer pressure, but no one teaches them about mental health, she says.

With starting at such a young age, Ellmann-Johnson and Look hope to create a more open conversation, and help eliminate the stigma around mental health.

As of now, Ellmann-Johnson and Look have prepped for their first lesson with students at Wilson Elementary. Though this is just the start, they have big plans for the future. They have already worked with NAMI as well as Sources of Strength within the school.The Sources of Strength website explains that it is an organization that works with student leaders to promote a healthy mindset within a school; it is a great organization for Ellmann-Johnson and Look to partner with soon. The goal for students from 3rd to 8th grade is to have a series of lessons that will follow them throughout the six years of the program. These lessons will teach about mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, teach the real life signs of suicide, and explain the options availible to help those with mental health. All these lessons will lead these students to high school with the gear needed to deal with mental health.

Ellmann-Johnson and Look have ambition, a goal and a plan for MAP; however, they are only two people. Even with the help of school guidance counselors and Dr. Altekruse, they are still looking for help. Any student with a desire to help or ideas for the program are urged to e-mail either Look, [email protected], Ellmann-Johnson, [email protected], or Dr. Altekruse, [email protected], to see how they can be involved with MAP.

While many students may have a desire for things to change, Molly Ellmann-Johnson and Grace Look took action and are working to change it themselves.