All humans need a positive and healthy mindset to live a life full of joy and compassion. Although many people may have already achieved this mindset, it is sad to say that many others have not yet acquired this positive and healthy mentality. Over 280 million people across  the globe suffer from forms of depression or major depressive disorders. Also, about 3.4 percent of all 15-19 year olds suffer from depression. For these reasons, many schools have started to participate in events such as the mental health walk in order to help people and students to truly achieve this mindset. One of these schools that do some type of event is our own school which is Lewis Cass.

The Lewis Cass Mental Health Walk is an annual walk that starts at the end of the school year where everyone goes to the track for a day. At the track, there are many different kinds of booths. For example, Jane Franz and Bella Chase had a stand last year where they gave out popsicles to everyone who came to them. This event is to give people a break from learning and a reminder that they are loved. Many people may not realise it but they also need this break from constant learning to meditate and give themselves a break. 

We interviewed a few students and one teacher about how they felt about this walk. The first person we interviewed was Benjamin Hintz, and he said, “The mental health walk was a good place to talk to people about your feelings, and overall it was good.” We also interviewed Jane Franz, who is head of the Bring Change To Mind Club and she said, “it was a good way to get people talking about mental health, and the whole point about it was to give everyone a break.” Jane Franz also explains that she thinks mental health should be talked about and not frowned upon. Lastly she also stated, ”most people think that it isn’t an important topic and that’s why we have guest speakers to inform students about mental health.” Lastly we interviewed Mr. Green, who is the 7th grade math teacher at Lewis Cass. Mr. Green informed us that he felt it was a good environment for students to open up about mental health. As you can see, last year’s mental health walk was a success, with students and a teacher saying it was good.

This year the mental health walk was mostly successful. Although most people didn’t like the walk this year since it was inside, people still overall enjoyed it as there was still tons of fun, laughs, and joy. A few downsides at the walk this year was that there were rubber ducks that people were taking and blowing a loud noise with it causing headaches and annoyance for people. Even though there were a few downsides of the walk, there were still a bunch of upsides that came with it. For example, Markus Hopman won a skateboard from a raffle ticket and most of the students seemed to love the face painting that was provided there.

Many people and students loved the idea of the mental health walk where they can walk around and get fun treats from booths. Even though there were a few downsides of this year’s mental health walk, it was still a success and many students enjoyed it. The most important part though is the reminder and deep meaning of the mental health walk which is that everyone is loved and individually important. Overall, the mental health walk has been a great event so far with an amazing meaning and this year was another fun success for the students and people.