NOCTILUCA October 2017

NEWS Appleton, Wisconsin October 2017 Volume XXIII Issue I Page 2 Appleton North students organize hurricane Irma drive

On Aug. 30, a tropical storm, now known as Hurricane Irma, began to form. On Sept. 10, Irma decimated the western side of Florida. In order to combat the destruction caused to her former home and long- time friends in Naples, Florida, senior Molly Brinkhoff set up a donation drive to help them. “I saw the devastation there Student from Florida collects donations to help damage By Maddie Clark going to help Appleton North,” Mr. Pynenberg said. He is mak- ing partnerships to help bring Sources of Strength to more school districts around the area. One of these crucial partner- ships is with Wendy Magas, who works for the Northeast Wisconsin Mental Health Con- nection, a nonprofit commu- nity coalition of stakeholders doing system level work to improve the behavioral health system. She is the coordinator of a project called the Healthy Teens Minds Initiative, which seeks to improve the behavioral health of teens in the tri-county area. They received an 8-year grant from the Medical Col- lege of Wisconsin, which they are using to improve behavioral health and reduce the rates of depression among teens. Their initiative searched for global strategies to adopt in the tri- county area to improve the mental health of teens. “We know that we have high rates of teens in our tri-county area who are struggling with depression, and we have a high- er than average suicide rate than the state initial average,” Ma- gas said, based on the data her team collected over the past few years. Magas said this showed there was a substantial need for a program to help reduce the high rates of struggling teens. At Appleton North in particu- lar, Magas said that there is an increase in the number of teens feeling sad or hopeless year by year, which is aligned with the clinical definition of depression. “We want to see that number go down,” added Magas. One of the

and heard how challenging it was to get supplies, and I want- ed to help in any way I could,” said Brinkhoff. Brinkhoff received help from Mrs. Pavelski, the director of the student marketing team, senior Leah Armstrong, who prepared the semi truck to de- liver the donations to Florida, and her mom, who helped her with the organization. “I got involved by contacting Truck Country...I coordinated when the truck would be at the site and when it would leave…” promoted good mental health for students.After hearing about the success Hortonville High School had with Sources of Strength, Magas and her team used their grant money towards trying to provide Sources of Strength to more schools in the tri-county area. They are work- ing to make the program more affordable as well. Currently, it costs $15,000 to bring the program to a school; however, Magas and her team are using the grant money from the Medi- cal College of Wisconsin to pay for half of the startup cost of the program in schools. Moreover, due to an investment they have made, the cost for a new school to adopt the program should drop to $750 in 2020. The Mental Health Coali- tion’s goal is to scale Sources of Strength so that all schools in the tri-county area have Sources of Strength. They want to “go upstream” and prevent kids from going into crisis at all. When kids have popular so- cial supports and trusted adults, the risk of depression decreas- es, which is why Sources of Strength can be an effective program; it provides both of these protective factors. Mr. Pynenberg wants stu- dents to know that they do have sources of strength; they simply need to realize them. “It’s never too late to get help,” Mr. Pynenberg said.

said Armstrong. The pair also needed to find a drop point in Florida for their delivery, de- ciding on the well known non- profit, Meals of Hope. Brink- hoff’s next step was contacting the Pathways Church for a lo- cal donation point in Appleton, which accepted donations the weekend of Sept. 16. Her final step was to get the word out. “I made posters, announcements, and was on several news chan- nels.” The truck left on Tues- day, Sept. 19, and arrived the morning of Thursday, Sept. 21. Neitzke , Homecoming, from page 1 individual rather than allow- ing it to be a popularity contest. Moreover, West high school should be recognized positively for taking steps forward to make everyone feel more included. No one is having an opportu- nity taken from them; nor is this a way to shame the way things have been done in the past. This is a positive social change in our community. Rachel Brosman, an Apple- ton North alumnus, spoke up on Twitter about the student back- lash. “I was shocked (in a good way) to see that Appleton West made this decision. It is quite progressive for a Wisconsin school. I think the purpose of the elimination of the Homecom- ing King and Queen titles was to make these people feel just a little more comfortable in the scary world of high school that they are forced to be a part of.” “These progressive changes should be celebrated because the sole purpose is inclusion. In- clusion equals kindness. There- fore, I cannot understand why these students are up in arms, choosing tradition over kind- ness,” concluded Brosman. West’s decision to eliminate the title of Homecoming King and Queen is allowing for more students to be represented in the homecoming court. Moreover, any student seeing an issue with this decision should realize that there will still be a homecom- ing court, and this should be the least of your worries in life. Students should take from this experience the idea of ac- cepting positive change, rather than focusing on the “break- ing” of a tradition; just because it’s a tradition doesn’t mean it’s right. Let’s embrace the idea of including everyone with the mindset that everyone deserves fair opportunities.

The semi truck, coordinated by Armstrong, that brought the donations down to Florida . Photo courtesy of Molly Brinkoff.

Abdel-Azim , Hope, from page 1 officially become a Sources of Strength school. Over the sum- mer, 15 teachers and adminis- trators went through training. In early October, a group of about 70-80 students will be selected as peer leaders to implement the Sources of Strength program. Their role will be to support a healthy culture and construct positive social networks within the North High School com- munity. The students will be advised by these trained staff to create positive events, such as the pinwheel, and act as “life- guards” for those students who fall into the water. Even though Sources of Strength is intended to prevent students from ever falling into the water, it also provides a safety net for those who do. Sources of Strength seeks to provide a refuge for when students fall into crisis, but also before they fall over the waterfall. As Mr. Pynenberg puts it, “Students are still going to fall into the ‘water,’ we un- derstand that, but our goal is to help them get out right away, so they are safe.” There are many sources at North to help students with sui- cidal thoughts or students strug- gling with depression and men- tal illness. Two of those sources include School Psychologist Mrs. Nancy Van Der Loop, and Social Worker Mrs. Deb- bie Strick. Both Mrs. Strick and Mrs. Van Der Loop are part of Sources of Strength. “The big- gest thing we want to provide is a sense of hope,” Mrs. Van Der Loop said. They welcome all students, including those who just need to talk, at any time. One of the most crucial as- pects of Sources of Strength that Mrs. Strick, Mrs. Van Der Loop, and Mr. Pynenberg em- phasize is “breaking the si- lence.” Friends of those with suicidal thoughts should never try to keep it a secret. It is cru- cial to deal with a friend’s sui-

cidal thoughts in the right way and never hide the problem. A trained professional, such as a school psychologist or social worker, must be notified as soon as possible. The group of students that will be trained in early October should aid in this aspect. They will be trained to recognize the warning signs of suicide and will know when to tell a trained professional about their concerns. The new initia- tive will emphasize the impor- tance of involving others when someone has “fallen into the water” and connecting them to their sources of strength and support. For Mr. Pynenberg, student safety has been the number one priority throughout his career, and now, with his leadership position, he has been working with teachers and administra- tors to incorporate Sources of Strength into Appleton North this fall. Mr. Pynenberg com- pares each suicide at Appleton North to the loss of a family member and acknowledges the harmful effects it has on the rest of the school. “I never want to go through that again,” he ex- plained, talking about suicide. He said his primary goal is to help every student out of the water. Every year, Teen Wellness Screenings take place at North, where freshmen and juniors go through testing to determine every student’s level of men- tal wellness. In previous years, students had to sign up for the Teen Wellness testing; howev- er, this year all students will be required to take the screening unless they opt out. In conjunc- tion with Teen Wellness, Mr. Pynenberg hopes that Sources of Strength will help identify students who might be having difficulties with mental health. While he acknowledges that there is no “magic pill” that will stop suicide at North, they are doing what they can to help students stay safe and never consider suicide as an option. “I really believe this program is

programs that stood out to

them in their search was Sources of Strength, a pro- gram that her team believed re- duced suicide-re- lated behaviors and