As we ride through the month of May, Hope Squad is presenting new lessons in regards to Mental Health Awareness Month. If you don’t know, Hope Squad is OHS’ peer-resource group whose trained participants focus on spreading positivity through the halls. Here at Panther Press, we had the opportunity to talk with the Hope Squad advisors Ms. Weinert and Ms. Tracy and then discuss the means of stress with AP Psychology teacher, Mr. Ziehr. As we’re just a few weeks away from the end of the school year, mental health is a top priority for many students and teachers. 

Ms. Weinert’s involvement with Hope Squad began closer to the beginning of her education career when she started realizing the mental health challenges students went through during their adolescence, she says that understanding stress and student perspective are crucial to mitigating this issue. Shortly into this time, another educator talked to her at a conference about HOPE Squad. Ms. Weinert’s interest in having a HOPE squad at OHS was piqued and the national HOPE squad was contacted about setting up an organization at OHS and the journey towards an OHS HOPE squad began. 

Unfortunately, this progression was impeded by the COVID-19 pandemic, and both Ms. Weinert and Ms. Tracy agree that the organization is still finding its feet. Ms. Weinert in particular has a lot of goals in terms of moving forward with HOPE squad, even opening up the conversation of school to work programs for HOPE squad members.

 Ms. Tracy's involvement with the HOPE squad came partially from her personal experience as a parole officer within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections here in Oregon. Ms. Tracy’s original ambition was to be a social worker with kids, however this shifted to the role of a school counselor due to the various burnout and mental health effects that befall those in social work.

 Ms. Tracy’s worked as a school counselor for 9 years now, and the pandemic has caused unparalleled issues among young adults “That I think alone [the pandemic] has created a lot of anxiety because now it's like I'm used to being in front of my computer and now I have to be in a class with 30 kids…  a year and a half, two years can derail everything.”  Additionally, this year Ms. Tracy has taken on an escalated role in the administration of HOPE squad as Ms. Weinert has stepped back a little bit, which seems critical given the ebb and flow of student leader engagement throughout the year, as the group has faced struggles with event planning and meeting schedules.

HOPE squad has been a program available to all students all year since 2019. There are about three dozen kids trained in HOPE squad through a program called “QPR (Question Persuade Refer)” and the program for this training is provided by UW Health. This training is available to anybody, not just those selected for HOPE squad, and accessing it is simply a matter of asking. As for the selection of HOPE squad leaders, the students in HOPE squad are nominated by their peers and invited to join. Within their first couple weeks or months, meetings are dedicated primarily to training, though Ms. Weinert hopes that next year the organization can get more of this training done before the beginning of the school year. So what do HOPE squad members do? HOPE squad members are a resource for all students at OHS, conversations with them (in the proper context) are completely confidential and can be anything from a safe space and sounding board for student struggles, to the first step in seeking mental health care through the school.

On the topic of mental health, OHS has had some new teachers join us this year, including AP Psychology teacher, Mr. Ziehr. As we sat down and discussed the stigmas around stress, he mentioned psychological terms that support the idea of healthy stress. “Most of our culture and society tends to view stress as a very negative thing. But in AP Psychology, we learn about something called the Yerkes-Dodson Law and it basically is this principle that states that you actually want a medium, healthy amount of stress,” explains Ziehr. He continues with, “The theory goes that, if you have too low of stress, you’re not really going to be motivated to achieve things. And if you have too high of stress, then you're gonna be running into situations where you can become overwhelmed by that. So the key is to find, basically, where is that line where the stress is motivating you in a positive way to study for exams, to achieve well at different clubs or organizations, or music, choir… and then to maximize your potential as a person, you have to find that middle level of stress”.

 We began discussing the physiological impacts of stress and that’s when we talked about General Adaptation Syndrome. As explained by Ziehr, “There’s a three step process: The first step is called Alarm, which is when your body ramps up into activation mode. So this is when you’re gonna be releasing a lot of different hormones like cortisol and adrenaline”. The next step is called Resistance, in which coping mechanisms come in. “Our body stays in this heightened state of stress… this is when you're really trying to deal and cope with the stress, and hopefully, overcome the stress… But your body is still in the heightened state of arousal and this is where it can be very difficult to maybe fall asleep, or eat healthy”. The final stage consists of one’s body running out of fuel and staying in a heightened stress level for far too long. “The third stage is called Exhaustion and this is where the bulk of mental and physical health issues can come in. If your body’s resources start to become depleted from keeping you in this heightened state, you can start to experience some declines that are dangerous for your health”. 

While all three of our interviewees discussed the importance of mental health, Hope Squad has also faced their own challenges along the way. Ms. Tracy says, “We kind of have a jigsaw puzzle in terms of scheduling and navigating that for the student leaders has been difficult this year”. As students ourselves, we don’t always get to see the ins-and-outs of a club or school organization so it’s easy to assume that a certain group “has it all together”. The same thought applies to individuals as well. With all that pressure, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed out. Yet, Mr. Ziehr reminds us that, “People who have a more optimistic and positive mindset, tend to reach that peak level of the Yerkes Dodson Law … It’s hard to change our mindset on things but if we are able to start to practice positivity, practice gratitude and optimism, it’s something we can hopefully develop healthy habits with”. He goes on to say, “We should try to do our best to see stress as not necessarily a negative in all circumstances, but something that can be helpful for us, because it does motivate us.” Lastly, Ziehr suggests, “Make sure you have good coping strategies. … There’s the parasympathetic nervous system response, which is the calming - opposite of fight or flight. For every person, it's gonna look different. Going for a walk outside can be wonderful for a lot of people. Exercising is actually a great way to release neurotransmitters and hormones to help calm you down. Or just doing something fun - watching a funny movie or something like that to unwind. … Try not to spend too much time on your phone, especially late at night. It can be a lot of people's coping mechanism but, especially doing this in the evening, while it might help you cope in that moment, this is going to stimulate your brain and make it harder to fall asleep.” 

To sum up, when discussing mental health and its effects, it’s important to consider all the factors that come into play. Stress may seem a frightening thought but in reality, a little bit of it helps you succeed more and developing healthy coping mechanisms can help in the long run.

 If you’d like to know more about Hope Squad, get connected with current members or advisors, Ms. Tracy or Ms. Weinert. Furthermore, if the psychological aspect of mental and physical health intrigues you, contact Mr. Ziehr and take the AP Psychology course next school year.