Mental Health Open Mic

By Vie Filar

As high school students, we are under a tremendous amount of pressure. Whether from others, ourselves or society, there is constantly a bar we must meet. Expressing that struggle and providing support is crucial to our well being. With the help of Vie Filar, Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Green, and Mrs. Machen, the Fox Chapel Stand Together team joined with Tapestry to host a mental health open mic event on March 10th.

Stand Together is a club that works to promote the discussion of mental health and substance use disorder and works to eliminate associated stigma. Throughout February submissions were collected and reviewed and students worked hard to form a creative platform for the students at Fox Chapel to express their mental health challenges through the arts.

The arts can act as a crucial outlet for struggle. They encourage creativity and expression through something positive and beautiful. Through this event, the hope was that students would have a safe space to creatively share their struggles and triumphs with supportive peers and adults. At the event, many students showcased their original poems, shared important information about mental health and played music. The room was decorated with many of the Positive Painting Project pieces, along with Stand Together signs that promoted awareness of the stigma associated with mental health and substance use disorders.

The room was packed with students and teachers and booming with support. Seeing one's peers gathered together, listening to the rawness of each speaker created such a warm and welcoming atmosphere; it was truly wonderful. Some of the pieces actually moved listeners to tears. When sitting there observing, I was overcome with a feeling of pride for the people speaking and abundance of care from the audience. In between each piece, a member from Stand Together stepped up to the mic to share information about mental health, the stigma around it and how we can support. These student speakers began to shed light on what the reality of mental health struggles for teens is like. Education is truly vital if we are to tackle such challenging topics. The fact that we were able to openly discuss it together through the arts is truly magic.

Mental Health Open Mic, Continued...

Tapestry holds open mic events like these a few times a year and are amazing ways to share your passions and work! Whether it's poetry or music or art, Tapestry has an outlet for it. A huge thanks to Tapestry for helping sponsor the event and working to make it a reality! Stand Together provides training to club members about mental health and substance abuse struggles to help build a supportive community at school. It's truly wonderful that students and teachers were able to use that knowledge and share it through the school with the open mic.