Our Next Steps

One of the main things we'd like to do for the future is think of new events and carry them out. Specifically, we'd like to hold study sessions with our followers at different libraries around our area. We believe that in these study sessions we can not only take time to directly educate our following, but also help show them some effective study techniques that Dr. Horvath introduced us to. Finally, through these events, we'll be able to tend to one of our protective factors, peer support, by bringing our community together.  

We also hope to organize more fundraisers with the goal of raising money as we continue our campaign. We want to donate the money we earn from these sales to organizations like the S.A.M. Foundation that strive to raise awareness about mental health and create inclusive communities. Organizations like this one have greatly influenced us and the messages we want to send out. 

Not only do we hope to continue posting new editions of our newsletter,  The Weekly Mind, but we also want to increase the amount of people who view our newsletter. Our newsletter is an opportunity for us to let our community know what we've done for our campaign that week, and to introduce meaningful quotes, infographics, and information for our viewers. This is why we hope to collaborate with our school's newspaper club and create a section within our school's newspaper, The Buzz, for our newsletter. 

Another goal we have for our campaign is to collaborate with our school government to create larger, specifically, school wide events. Our school has numerous branches of government like Student Council and Class Board, with representatives from each grade, that strive to plan events that our entire school can participate in. We are so happy about the size of the community following DCD MHP, but we really want to expand and reach a greater audience to promote our risk+protective factors. Partnering with our school government clubs like Class Board and Student Council allow us to do just that. 

In regards to research, we have two goals for our campaign. The first is to carry out an experimental study on students within our school and use a sample of people that allows our results to be applied to a larger population. In the beginning of our campaign, we held a survey study that helped us reinforce our risk + protective factors. But, we'd also like to hold an experimental research study to better prove if our methods of promoting mental health are actually effective on our community.  Secondly, we'd like to write a research paper that encapsulates our survey study in collaboration with our Science Research Club and the advisors within that club. We also want to publish the research paper so we can make our findings public. Additionally, publishing a research paper about our study will make our results and entire campaign more official/legit as they will have been reviewed by professionals in the field. 

Lastly, we want to collaborate with more licensed professionals in fields related to mental health/science like Dr. Horvath, Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Randall. Our goal with this endeavor is to gain more insight on our campaign and knowledge on mental health/educating in general. These sources can reinforce our previous beliefs and also introduce us with new statistics that can change our view on our campaign and life in general.