For my girl scout gold award, I began working with Wesley Rankin Community Center in August of 2024 to figure out how best I could combine my passions of culture, psychology, and working with children to benefit my participants. 

I plan to host 12 1-hour sessions, once a week, with Wesley Rankin 3rd-4th graders. During these sessions, I will teach the children about important mental wellbeing topics for the first 30 minutes, and then we will embark in a relaxing African art activity for the final 30 minutes to relieve stress. The National Institutes of Health performed a study which found that children who participated in art therapy showed a greater improvement on tests that quantify anxiety levels and quality of life, even 6 months after the art therapy session.

The National Institutes of Health concluded that minority children have the highest rates of unmet need for mental health services. Additionally, children in impoverished communities oftentimes attend these underfunded schools, and as shown by this chart from the CDC, they have experienced a considerable amount of stress during their life and require mental health education the most.