Throughout the week of Nov. 10 the cafe was buzzing with self-love and positivity through a display of creative student projects. As part of International Stress Awareness Week, Mrs. Goellner worked with her senior Christian Lifestyles classes to create interactive projects that aimed to comfort those struggling with stress, mental health, and other challenges. These projects varied in mediums and messages. Some of the projects shared personal experiences with their mental health journeys, others provided takeaways such as reminders, encouraging messages, and suggestions on how students could check in with themselves and their mental health.
“Students could participate anonymously, as a way to share their struggles and achievements so that no matter where they are on their journey, it would be an opportunity to see that they are not alone,” said Mrs. Goellner. “It allows for the projects to be a positive space for both those students creating them and also those interacting with them.”
An example of a project was a portrait created using band-aids as the medium. The description read, “The purpose of this face is to reflect everybody’s truth: We are all broken. Each bandage represents a battle we’ve faced, and how we’re healing from each wound. Reflect on a hard time you’ve been through or are going through. Picture yourself as the bandaged-faced, and know that no matter where you are in your journey, you are healing.”This course in Christian Lifestyles explores some of the ways our baptismal call to follow Jesus may affect our relationships with family members, friends, the larger world and ourselves. International Stress Awareness week was created in 2018 to raise awareness about stress, mental health, and other challenges… and has gained a large following during the pandemic.
