The Pet of the Month is named Sugar! She is a maltese terrier mix and is a service animal. Sugar has been very thereuptic especially through Coronavirus as she is always there to comfort our family. Having a dog has been awesome and she definetly keeps us entertained at all times! - Conor Burns

Reza - Community Committee, Menlo Park:

The MP Community Committee has been hard at work trying to knock out multiple initiatives! Because we’re such a large group we decided that it would be best to have a few different initiatives going on in the background. All the projects currently going on are doing great, but notably, the presentation regarding eating disorders has been making tremendous progress. During our last meeting, we laid out all the plans for the QuaranTEEN Diaries video premiere happening on January 28th, as well as starting to do some one-on-ones with the committee members. I’m absolutely amazed and proud of the MP Community Committee for the spectacular work they’ve been doing. Keep up the good work SYAB!!

We will be presenting an internal workshop for all SYAB members on Eating Disorders: Feb. 25th, 8pm-9pm. Zoom link will be added to the SYAB calendar.

FYI: Eating Disorder Awareness week: Feb. 22nd - 28th.

Sophia - Community Committee, San Mateo:

What we've been working on recently is mental health policy. We're just starting to reach out to local candidates who won their races and form relationships with their offices. We're still in the planning and learning stages because most of us don't have an abundance of experience with policy. Before, we actually made bookmarks to pass out to local bookstores, libraries, and schools to increase the awareness of SafeSpace and provide hotline numbers to the community. We're in the stage of getting those out to local businesses.

Mira & Novak - Resources Committee, San Mateo:

The resources committee has worked to create resources that tailor to the needs of specific schools, like how to start mental health conversations and how to relieve stress in quarantine, in order to create more inclusive and comfortable communities. Moving forward, we are working on compiling an extensive directory of mental health-related resources, including hotlines, podcasts, and songs (just to name a few). We are striving to make it accessible to anyone interested and looking for helpful resources to reach out for help, receive advice, or simply lift their mood! Our goal is, through the exhaustive list of various resources, everyone who utilizes our directory will find something that tailors to their particular need. Check out our resources on our new website under the Resource tab!

Kai - Pride Committee:

The Pride Committee is an affinity group focusing on mental health in the LGBTQ+ community. We started in June of 2020 by planning a pride celebration, and decided to continue our work into the school year. We taught a workshop about ally ship to the LGBTQ+ community, did a fundraiser (raised $700+!) for the Trevor Project, and created resources regarding terminology, representation, and services available. The Pride Committee continues to work for the cause of LGBTQ+ mental health, and is currently planning a half day conference in May or June to celebrate Mental Health Awareness month & Pride!

Riley C. & Claire - Social Media Committee:

The social media team has been hard at work revamping our Instagram page. We have been lucky to work with a designer, who has helped us design templates to help create a more cohesive look for our feed! In the future, we hope to continue to use our social media page as a place to show the community what we are working on as an organization amongst our numerous committees with many different initiatives! We ask that you share your everyday pictures with us so we can use them in our posts!

Mira - Digital Media Committee:

In 2020 and through 2021, the digital media committee is striving to share perspectives of those who are less represented and encourage mental health conversations through creative mediums. At the end of January, we will be releasing the first episode of Beyond the Picket Fence, a podcast by teens, for teens, created to discuss various challenges related to mental health. We are also looking to create and distribute other easy-access content across social media and other platforms in the upcoming year.