Iola High School students are using a home basketball game Friday as an opportunity to bring attention to mental health and suicide prevention.
The game will feature a “green out” organized by Mustangs for Mental Health, the school’s student-led mental health club and Iola’s local chapter of the Zero Reasons Why program.
Students, staff, and fans are encouraged to wear green — the color associated with mental health awareness — to show support.
Audacious Boutique is selling special T-shirts, but are not necessary to show support. During the game, students will also host a 50-50 raffle and have a table set up to help spread awareness about the club.
ZERO REASONS WHY is a suicide prevention program that promotes peer connection and open conversation.
Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center (SEKMHC) announced in early October that it would fully fund the Zero Reasons Why initiative in Allen County schools, including Iola, Humboldt, and Moran.
While the Zero Reasons Why program is countywide, each school operates its own club and chooses its own name.
Iola’s club became known as Mustangs for Mental Health early on, which may have led to some community confusion about whether it is separate from Zero Reasons Why.
“That might be confusing for some people, but we want to get the word out there,” said USD 257 school board president Jen Taylor who is employed by SEKMHC as a grant and program coordinator.
“I don’t think Moran and Humboldt have decided what they want to call themselves,” she said.
Taylor said Iola students moved quickly to get organized and begin planning activities, including the “green out” basketball game, even as program contracts and logistics were still being finalized. “I think it’s just great,” she said.
MUSTANGS for Mental Health is sponsored by Iola High School secretary Kyleigh Harper, who said she stepped into the role after recognizing a growing need among students.
“Students today are facing an overwhelming amount of pressure,” Harper said. “Between academics, social expectations, family situations, and the constant noise of comparison, it’s easy for them to feel unseen or unheard. Mustangs for Mental Health exists to change that — to create a space where it’s okay to talk about hard things and to ask for help.”
What drew Harper most to the program is its structure. Zero Reasons Why is designed to be student-led, with adults serving in a supporting role.
“These students are choosing to support one another,” she said. “They are creating peer connections that matter and sometimes hearing ‘you’re not alone’ from a classmate can be more powerful than anything an adult could say.”
IN ADDITION to school-based clubs, Zero Reasons Why will include a monthly countywide teen council made up of students from all three schools. That council will be led by a Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center employee and will focus on broader initiatives, including advocacy and shared events across schools.
