By Riley Robertson
Over the past year, Eldorado has birthed many strong-willed, perseverant, and passionate student advocates for mental health. The drive to spread awareness and work toward solutions has stemmed from several different places. Whether the passion to advocate occurred due to an individual need for better mental health services in school, a personal struggle with mental illness, or even after the loss of a friend or a loved one, there is one thing all students, parents, and teachers involved in the movement have in common: a passion for change.
In the past decade, Eldorado has suffered multiple losses within the student body, with four occurring in the last three years. In an effort to cope with pain and use their voice to a positive advantage, many students have become highly involved in the mental health movement. Some have even become educated on the topic and hope to help others get training on it as well. Senior Mia Tafoya is among these students who have aimed at achievable goals through educating peers and adults that can help solve the problem.
“This has become an ongoing epidemic at Eldorado… I knew I needed to make a change because I didn’t want anyone else to know the pain our school has gone through,” said Tafoya.
Tafoya is very involved with Breaking the Silence, an organization that opens up the conversation about suicide and mental illness through trainings, forums, and presentations that can better educate the community to remove the stigma surrounding mental health and treat it like any other chronic illness rather than negatively stereotype it. Tafoya has also helped lead discussions with the school board and prominent members of APS to reinforce the importance of improved mental health services instituted in not only Eldorado, but all schools for all grade levels.
“Maintaining good communication with APS has allowed me to face a minimum amount of obstacles… holding each other accountable to find a solution allows us to show APS how serious we are about it…” said Tafoya.
Tafoya doesn’t want the student advocacy and push for change to stop when she graduates.
“I hope they continue to advocate for mental health… we can break the stigma around mental illness and suicide and we can open this conversation up and let people know that it’s okay to ask for help,” said Tafoya.
This movement is never ending. While professionals and other adults that work for the school district are in charge of the financial aspects and such, students have the majority of the power in creating change. In just one semester, Eldorado’s student body has respectfully pressured district members into focusing on the ongoing epidemic students face every day. Students have presented detailed solutions to help solve the issue alongside sharing personal experiences and advocating for something to be done immediately, with the strong support from their teachers and administration. This unified movement has proven the deeper meaning that lies within the fact that it is, in fact, great to be an Eagle.
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