Whether it’s dressing up as bananas, or handing out small tokens of appreciation, a small but ambitious group of Iola Middle School students share the same message to their classmates — we’ve got your back.
The students — four each from grades 6, 7 and 8 — are members of Aevidum, a student-led organization dedicated to erasing the stigma of dealing with mental health issues, and to promote suicide prevention.
They do so with projects large and small, starting with greeting the incoming sixth-graders on the first day of school with messages of support.
Since then, they’ve led several Red Ribbon Week efforts touting the importance of a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle — another topic Aevidum has taken on locally — and given out small toy animals to teachers with positive messages.
“Our emotional support animals,” chuckles Stacey Crusinbery, a school counselor and advisor for the Aevidum students.
Aevidum — derived from the Latin phrase, “we’ve got your back,” will keep club members busy through the rest of the school year.
They have several activities planned for Mental Health Awareness Week in the spring, and will hand out hot cocoa when classes resume in January after the Christmas break.
It’s usually an Aevidum member who also helps serve as the middle school’s welcome wagon for new students, giving them tours around campus, and offering somebody to eat with at lunch.
“I love getting to help the new students and interact with them,” said seventh-grader Finley Nelson, whose outgoing personality carries another motive. “Maybe I’ll get to become their best friend first,” she laughed.
The results have been encouraging.
“I’ve definitely noticed in the last few years there’s been less of a stigma about students asking for help,” Crusinbery said. “Students are more willing to let us know when they’re struggling. It’s definitely the first step to building more connections with those who need help.”
THAT OUTCOME was part of the rationale for Aevidum’s most visible campaign of the school year — the Banana project, where members donned banana costumes, without explanation, during Mental Health Awareness Week.
Despite the conspicuous get-up, the bananas declined to explain why they were in such costumes.
“We’d just give silly answers — ‘because they’re a-peeling’ — things like that,” Aevidum member Jim Olson explained.
It wasn’t until the end of the week that the bananas explained the reason for the get-up — mental health issues like depression are not as obvious in a crowd as a person wearing a banana costume.
STUDENTS who apply to join Aevidum are asked to give a lengthier commitment than for other clubs.
The seventh- and eighth-graders greet the sixth-grade students at the start of the school year, to explain the group, and what they hope to accomplish before seeking applicants to fill one of four slots.
