This spring, Montwood High School students have made a positive impact on the mental health of elementary students at O'Shea Keleher Whole Child Academy with support from a $3,000 grant from The Lead4Change Project.
The Montwood Mentors, including seniors Bryanna Ramirez, Genesis Grajeda, and Nirvana Vargas, along with sophomore Devin McMahon, partnered with O'Shea Keleher to teach children about the importance of mental health awareness and the impact that friendships and relationships can have on an individual’s mental health.
The mentorship program paired the high school students with students from O'Shea Keleher during the spring semester. The Montwood Mentors received the grant in March and donated the check to the school on April 2. The funds were used to sustain the program through the end of the school year.
“Mental health issues can start at a very young age, and we just want to help kids now so that later on in life, they're not struggling with making friends and making connections with their peers,” McMahon said. “We want them to work on their connections now at a younger age, so they don't struggle later in life.”
The Lead4Change Project is a small grants program that showcases the growth of students as leaders and funds their ideas for community impact. After completing the Lead4Change curriculum, which take students on a journey of learning leadership skills through community service, students share their story of growth and impact and request funding to continue, improve, or finish their service project.
O'Shea Keleher Principal Laura Garcia said the funds will be used for end-of-year school activities, such as field days, to recognize the Crusaders and Montwood Mentors for their hard work. Garcia said the program emphasized the importance of having role models, especially for children who may not have them in their lives.
“Giving these Montwood students an opportunity to come and mentor our students in school, that's just another part of their journey,” Garcia said. “So, it's good for the Montwood students to continue and see their impact on the elementary students, and it's good for the elementary students to see where they can go and what they can become when they go into high school.”
Nirvana Vargas and the other mentors spent time with the students, engaging in fun activities such as coloring or making friendship bracelets. Vargas said the children look forward to spending time with the mentors because they get a chance to relax and be themselves.
The future teacher said that working with young children presented a great opportunity for mentors to help them break bad habits, develop positive behaviors, and start teaching them to form healthy connections.
"We just want to start with building strong relationships, fixing their attitudes, and just making it more like a positive place," Vargas said.