MCPS and the Montgomery County School Psychologists’ Association (MCPSA) will be hosting their annual Mental Health Awareness Week, with free virtual events giving students and families the opportunity to learn about mental health and participate in advocacy activities from Oct. 10-15. The event will include five video sessions that students can watch throughout the week and two live virtual events.

The first virtual event is a Waymaking Special with Students, and will take place Wednesday, Oct. 12, from 6:30 – 8 p.m. It will feature students talking about their own experiences with mental health. There will also be a live Q&A student panel to answer questions from the audience.

The second virtual event, taking place Saturday, Oct. 15, from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m, is a Virtual Resource Fair and Q&A Session. Participants will learn about the mental health resources and support provided by MCPS available to them, and will also be able to ask questions to mental health experts. 

Other videos posted will go over a variety of topics, including personal safety, physical wellbeing, resiliency, relationship building and equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as why mental health matters, according to MCPS.

Students will have the opportunity to earn up to nine Student Service Learning (SSL) hours, both asynchronously and through live events. Starting Monday, Oct. 10, when the SSL reflection form will open and the videos will be posted on the MCPS website, students can earn up to five SSL hours, one for each video they watch and reflection form they fill out. Additionally, they can receive a maximum of two SSL hours per live event for attending and filling out the reflection form provided at the end of each event.

Going to any of the events may be beneficial for learning about mental health. High school students, especially RM students, many of whom take honors, AP or IB classes, often feel they are under a significant amount of stress daily that can take a serious toll on their mental wellbeing.

“I feel like mental health is so important,” senior Jessica Sun said. “As high school students we’re under so much pressure that [it] is a really big issue for a lot of people.”

Some teachers at RM feel that attending the events can allow students to absorb healthy habits and coping strategies and engage in therapeutic activities that can help them better handle any pressure or anxiety they feel from school, or otherwise.

“I think these are just ways to destress, to take a little bit out of that stressful day and kind of calm down…particularly for seniors who are applying for colleges right now,” history and psychology teacher Sharon Vires said via Zoom.

All members of the MCPS community are welcome to take part in Mental Health Awareness Week.

“The events that we plan [this] week are really geared towards the students, but the staff can also participate if they’d like,” school psychologist Lisa Nesson said. “You don’t have to have mental health struggles or anything to participate. It’s really open to anyone.”