MACON, Ga. — Stigmas surrounding mental health often push people away from reaching out for help.
That includes everyone: adults, teens and kids.
It's why a Macon private school is trying to eliminate those stigmas through a mental health club.
The students at Stratford Academy stay positive through their mental health club, Stratford Minds Matter.
"See the good" is the message they have hanging in one hallway at the school.
Abby Rose Perkel, senior, and Molly Edward Seagraves, junior, are the president and vice president of the club.
To them, the club's motto is about enjoying our daily lives with a positive mindset.
It's especially important to the Eagle community in honor of one of their own: Jack Minette.
Jack is remembered every single day at Stratford, the students, staff and faculty reiterated.
Minette's memory is meant to live in the hearts of those who knew him or will learn about him through the club's mental health awareness initiatives.
One of those includes the annual fundraiser: "January for Jack."
Through a collaboration with Orange Theory, Stratford Minds Matter raised over $3,000 for the mental health fund.
Tony Solen says he speaks for the entire staff at the OT when he says "it means a lot shedding a light on a cause that means so much to us."
When he started at the fitness studio, Solen said Jack was already working there.
"If he was in the room, you knew it," Solen added.
They bonded over their passion for health and wellness, Solen said.
"We were obviously coworkers," Solen said, "But we also had that big brother-little brother relationship. We talked about the colleges he wanted to go to. He was so incredibly bright, talented and intelligent."
Perkel remembers Jack because her older brother was friends with Jack growing up, she said.
"I would be upstairs because my brother wouldn't want me to hang out with him, and I could always hear his laughter from my room," the senior said.
"When I was allowed to hang out with him," Perkel continued, "he would always be the one to invite me, and lend a hand, and make me feel included."
"When I was in eighth grade, he was my math teacher's intern," Seagraves recalled. "Math's always been a negative subject to me, but he always brought such a light into that classroom, and could make us laugh, and take away the pressures of math."
However, everyone struggles with life's pressures regardless of age, race, gender, community, socioeconomic status, education level, etc.
That's why Stratford Minds Matter is so important to the Eagles at the private school.
After they lost Jack to suicide in 2021, just two days before his 18th birthday, Stratford Academy Eagles didn't hesitate to come together.
April Bacon is the co-advisor for the mental health club. She's also a freshman English teacher who teaches juniors AP Language and Composition.
"I had a couple ideas going around, but I felt like the one that was most needed and had the most potential was a club centered around mental health," Bacon said. "So, I did some research and found our minds matter, which is a national organization that has all kinds of resources for the high schools that are members of it."
"One of the biggest things it allows for our students to know is it encourages health-seeking behaviors," school counselor Gena Chalfa said.
"That's one of our goals, that we look at the entire student, not just the physical and academic part, but we look at the mind, body and spirit," she continued.
The staff and faculty at Stratford not only provide resources for Eagles, but they actively offer a helping hand and encourage people to reach out for help.
Students can talk to their counselors and trusted adults one-on-one about whatever's on their mind without judgment, Chalfa said.
They also can go to the mental health club meetings that Stratford Minds Matter offers.
The Eagles say they never want anyone to go through what he did, so they try to "see the good" every day in Jack's honor.
Perkel and Seagraves said their favorite way to destress in the club is to hang out and have "rose, bud, thorn" conversations; they get to choose to talk about their favorite part of their day, something they're looking forward to and a challenge they want to overcome.
Through the January for Jack fundraiser, the club has been trying to raise money for an outdoor space for all students.
"We do have the mental health room, which is more one-on-one, but we wanted an outdoor space for groups of people to relax outside during the day," Perkel said.
With the money raised through donations from t-shirt purchases and a partnership with Jack's former job at Orange Theory, Chalfa said they hope to have it ready by the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
"Having a space [outdoors] where we can get outside, get some sunlight, fresh air, I think, is really great," Seagraves said.
"With the youth at Stratford Academy, and their faculty and staff, [who] are kind of being able to use that fund to take the initiative and kinda do more for their students," Solen said. "It's a reciprocating thing that we give, and they give back a lot more quickly. So, knowing that's a difference we're making obviously puts a smile on my face!"
Solen said he still shares the values Jack taught him with everyone else who comes through his fitness studio, including the staff and members.
"Always use your energy, use your time, use what you gained here in studio to help those around you," he said.
The folks at Orange Theory and Stratford Academy said they will continue to honor their fellow eagle every year.
If you want to purchase a "January for Jack" t-shirt, you can donate $40 through the fundraising event using the flyer below.
