The Shanti Club has been thriving these past few months, and we are so excited to share with you! This October was an exciting one; we had two guest representatives from KidsMatter, a local counseling organization, come to speak at our club.
Our guest speakers came to speak to our club about anxiety and stress. This presentation was informative and useful for our middle school audience as anxiety and stress are common emotions that students struggle with. They also highlighted some warning signs of suicidal behavior and anxiety. One thing they spoke about that stuck out to our audience was emotional awareness and different stressors. For example, they emphasized the difference between eustress and distress. Eustress is stress beneficial to humans, like exercising, learning new things, or completing tasks. Distress harms us, such as sickness, deadlines, worrying, or relationships.
Our guests also brought some handouts for the students to keep. These handouts were to help students have an idea of what resources were available to them. They also handed out bags with different coping strategies to every student. These bags included play-dough, anti-stress coloring books, coloring pencils, and acupressure rings.
We are so happy KidsMatter was able to help our students and teach them how to recognize their emotions! We look forward to collaborating more with this organization in the future to further our club and mission. We look forward to continuing the Shanti Club into 2024 and making it more widespread in nearby middle schools and high schools!