“It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn about different disorders and how to help people. The Mental Health Matters people have a great teaching style and interact with everyone.”
~ Katelon, 6th grade Monte Vista School

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“I learned so many new facts, I can’t stop talking about it when I get home!”
~ Sydney, 6th grade Monte Vista School

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“They helped us by giving us new ideas and explaining the disorders. I’m glad to know there is always hope!”
~ Nina, 6th grade Monte Vista School

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“It made me realize that people with mental health disorders deserve respect.”
~ Karlise, 6th grade Monte Vista School (Hope School District)

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“Now I realize, thanks to Mental Health Matters, that the disease doesn’t really define them, it’s just something that they have… Even if people are talking to themselves or are really depressed, they can still be really nice people.”
~ Jackson, 6th grade Washington Elementary

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“When I used to walk down the street and see somebody who, you know, was talking to himself or doing things like that I would get kind of scared and try to avoid him… Now I know how to react when I meet someone with a mental health problem so it (Mental Health Matters) really helped me with life and stuff.”
~ Max, 6th grade Washington Elementary

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“In Mental Health Matters class we talked about how the mental illness does not just affect the person who is diagnosed with it, but also their friends and family.”
~ Carolina, 6th grade Cold Spring Elementary 

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“I have learned in Mental Health Matters that words can hurt, also that you should treat people with mental health issues with kindness.”
~ Shenoah, 6th grade Cold Spring Elementary 

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“I thought it would just be depressing and boring, but we had fun and really learned a lot.”
~ Kailea, 6th grade Cold Spring Elementary 

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“I like it when we got to work in groups and become experts.”

~ Mia, 6th grade Cold Spring Elementary 

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“In Mental Health Matters I learned that it isn’t nice to call serious things (like mental health things) silly names that aren’t the actual name [shrink instead of psychiatrist]”
~ Ruby, 6th grade Cold Spring 

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“I thought it was interesting to learn about different mental health topics such as depression. After the class, I thought differently about the people who live with this.”
~ Chloe, 6th grade Foothill Elementary 

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“It helped me to learn about reality and real world life skills for helping and being a good community member.”
~ Henry, 6th grade Foothill Elementary

coming soon...

"I just wanted to say thanks to the MWC for its outreach to grade schools in SB.  Our daughter is in 6th grade at Washington and they just finished “mental wellness week” in their class where volunteers from the Mental Wellness Center led the class through three sessions on mental health issues.  My daughter’s not much of a talker, but she was really struck by the stories and information presented by the volunteers. We had three nights of really meaningful conversations about mental health and how it affects all of us.  She shared that she and a bunch of her friends had a long conversation at lunch about people they know that have been affected by mental illness and how we shouldn’t be afraid or embarrassed to talk about it.
This is especially close to our family’s heart as our nephew took his life two years ago at 17.  Our daughter hadn’t really been able to process how this could have happened, but she was finally able to share with us her feelings and thoughts about her cousin.  She said that after mental wellness week, she didn’t feel afraid or “weird” talking about her cousin and what happened."
~Graham