Number of Participants: 30
Hours Donated: 25
Value of Time Served: $6,338
Event Type: Health & Safety
Sport: Team
School: Skaneateles Senior High School
Date: December 8, 2023
Location:
Skaneateles High School
East Elizabeth Street, Skaneateles
NY
About:
My group of students athletes meet weekly to discuss issues around mental health. Morgan’s Message is a student led organization. They pick the goals they want to achieve.
Some of our goals include:
1) Educate the community and coaches about Morgan’s Message and raise mental health awareness
2) Educate ourselves and develop our tool kit to manage our mental health.
3) Present to the Board of Education about what Morgan’s Message is and what we have accomplished
4) Create dedication games in sports in every season to raise awareness
5) Make a video talking about what Morgan’s Message does at Skaneateles https://drive.google.com/file/
6) Create a fundraiser and sell t-shirts to support the work of Morgan’s Message
7) Participate in a book study . The books that we read: Athlete Mental Health Playbook: A guide to mental wellness for athletes by Misty Buck. We are doing another book study this year: The Anxiety Toolkit for Teens by Teen Thrive.
8) Create a community with one another and safe space to share issues around mental health.
9) Training around how to support peers around mental health and suicidality. The kids were trained in QPR- Question, Persuade and Refer and how to support a peer who is struggling and help connect them to trusted adults and resources.
10) Do acts of service: This year the Morgan’s Message Ambassadors is involved in the clothing drive to benefit students in Syracuse City Schools. They would like to plan other service oapportunities such as Sleep in Heavenly Peace (building beds for kids who do not have them)
11) We would like to create a peer support program
I have 25-30 students who are in grades 9-12 and participate in so many sports and extracurricular activities including: girls soccer, boys soccer, football, cross country, golf, swimming, girls basketball, boys basketball, girls hockey, boys hockey, volleyball, winter track, girls lacrosse, boys lacrosse, baseball, softball, track and all of them are very involved in extracurricular activities such as DECA, Student Athletic Club, Environmental Club, Laker Links (mentoring) and so many others!
They are inspiring and they all care so deeply about destigmatizing mental health and raising awareness.
Information shared by
Kristin B. Moses, LMSW, CAS
Coordinator of Student Support Services & Family Engagement
Skaneateles Central School District