Yellow Ribbon Week
Yellow Ribbon Week, or Suicide Prevention Week, is a very important and beneficial program. The mission is to focus on mental health, spread tolerance, and educate both students and staff on these matters. It’s extremely important for all students to be encouraged to get help and talk about their problems. This past week, CdM’s Peer Assistance Leadership club hosted Yellow Ribbon Week on campus with a series of activities, inspirational posters, and an open dialogue in the lecture hall with The Patrick’s Purpose Foundation. Kaden Olsen, a sophomore student on PAL, feels that “the week is important because making sure people are okay is definitely a top priority.” Overall, the goal of the week was to reach as many students as possible and spread awareness of suicide prevention.
Yellow Ribbon Week was marked by lunch and break activities from Monday through Friday. On Tuesday, The Patrick’s Purpose Foundation showed a video in the lecture hall and hosted an open dialogue discussion about mental health and reaching out. Kim Turner spoke about mental health in high school students and answered questions from the CdM students in the audience. It was a very impactful message that resonated with many students. Throughout the week, students were also encouraged to participate in the feather wall outside Mrs. Dew’s classroom. The idea was to write something that “lifts you up” on one of the feathers to practice gratitude and reflection. Finally, on Friday, PAL hosted an open lunch for anybody to come to hang out in the grass area behind the 300’s building. Sophomore Eden Clark thinks that “the lunch was a really good opportunity for all students to come together.”
Behind the scenes, PAL students and advisors had meetings to prepare for the week ahead and make posters to be hung in the halls. Clark feels that “PAL spent time and effort on trying to make the week run smoothly.” But she also feels it was worth it, and she “really enjoyed making and hanging the posters.” Olsen also enjoyed “handing out the [yellow ribbon] bracelets during class on Monday.”
Overall, Yellow Ribbon Week spreads an important message that all students should be aware of. Nobody should ever feel scared or ashamed to reach out for help when it’s needed, and CdM should always strive to be an inclusive environment. Olsen summarizes the sentiment; “You don’t want to see your friends going through rough times, and you don’t want to not see them the next day.”