STARK COUNTY SCHOOLS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS

Dan Mucci • April 16, 2024

The sixth annual Stark County Schools Mental Health Awareness Week is May 6-10 Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health (C&A), CommQuest Services and Pathway Caring for Children will partner to bring positive mental health awareness to more than 53,000 students and 7,000 support and administrative staff in all 18 Stark County School districts.

Each year, the highlight of the week is seeing StarkMHAR’s Student Mental Health Champions come together to produce a unity video that is shown in all 18 school districts and spotlighted on the video board at Centennial Plaza.

This year’s theme is “You’ve Got This.” Prior to Stark County Schools Mental Health Awareness Week, the Stark Mental Health Addiction and Recovery (StarkMHAR) Student Mental Health Champions created peer-to-peer messages that are spotlighted on each agency’s social media channels.

This year, a handful of the student mental health champions came together for a mental health panel discussion hosted by Canton City Schools TV broadcast studio at McKinley High School’s Timken Campus. C&A’s Lead Trauma Specialist Mary Kreitz moderated the discussion, providing insightful viewpoints from teens on mental health. Participating high school students were Massillon’s Anna Rivera, Sandy Valley’s Peyton Nicholson, Central Catholic’s Madison Heiser and Gabe Griez and McKinley’s Kae’lub Edwards and broadcast media teacher Jacki Power, providing a teacher and parent perspective.

This week, which initially started with eight participating school districts, has grown to include all 18 school districts in Stark County and 19 high schools. Today’s students continue to grow their resiliency skills having lived through the pandemic, when much of their world was turned upside down, and now have fully put the pieces back together.

High School

Middle School 

This year, 25 StarkMHAR Student Mental Health Champions came forward to create peer messages, which resonate with students across the county. These students are recognized on C&A’s website, where their inspiring messages and unity video are available to view. These champions reflect the uniqueness and diversity of our schools. The champions represent athletes, the performing arts and students who have a passion for bringing awareness and helping to remove the stigma associated with mental health. 


C&A, CommQuest and Pathway Caring for Children know that students hearing peer messages from fellow students resonates better than having an adult communicate the same message. Students may also view that other students across the county share their same struggles and triumphs. The agencies know students talking about mental health and understanding how to maintain their mental health is important for their success and more importantly life success. 

Each year, this program each year allows students to self-affirm, recognize and learn about mental health. People, specifically young people, assume mental health is something only certain individuals go through, but in reality, everyone faces mental health challenges in some way. A person does not always need to see a doctor to deal with mental health. Our physical health, as well as our mental health, are a normal part of being human. If young students do not learn to identify mental health challenges, they are prone to a cycle of possible anxiety, stress and depression.

Student-led initiatives for positive mental health

C&A, CommQuest and Pathway Caring for Children are working with 18 area school districts to spread the message of positivity. This year, elementary, middle and high school students will all receive age-appropriate messaging to keep strong mental health.

  • Elementary and Intermediate students: All elementary and intermediate students will see age-appropriate posters hung in their school buildings as well as having an age-appropriate morning announcement read. In addition, every elementary student will receive a laminated card where the student may write their name, grade, favorite subject and have a student or teacher write a favorite thing about the student. Each day, the student may circle if they need a high-five, fist bump, smile or compliment. 
  • Middle school students will also see age-appropriate posters hung in their schools, have an age appropriate morning announcement read, receive positive affirmation JPEG images emailed to them and receive a positive affirmation sticker with the message “You Matter” or “You Got This.”
  • High school students will view the Student Mental Health Champion poster in their school featuring all 25 Stark County StarkMHAR Student Mental Health Champions. The students will view the Unity video, peer messages and receive positive JPEG affirmations emailed to them each day.
  • Administrators, administrative and support staff (teachers, cooks, custodians, bus drivers, etc.) in all 18 school districts will receive a self-care card where they may scan a QR Code to learn more about self-care to maintain their own positive mental health.

This week would not be made possible without our community partners – AultCare, StarkMHAR, State Farm agent Michael Dougan, Q-92, Commercial Savings & Bank and community mental health partners CommQuest Services and Pathway Caring for Children. In addition, each Stark County School District for selecting and partnering to create the videos and peer messages for display.



C&A is thrilled our Stark County School Districts view the importance of presenting a week for students to engage in positive mental health. Raising awareness on this topic can help so many students change their conversations with friends and families and remove the stigma. 

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