Student-led initiative working to provide support to young people in the L-C Valley

The Lewiston-Clarkston Valley has a new tool for students to combat the struggles that come with life — each other.

Starting last spring, students from Lewiston, Clarkston, Asotin and Tammany schools met to discuss what could be done about issues like mental health struggles, negativity and student involvement. The group of students, representing grades freshman to senior, now call themselves the Students of the Valley Advocacy, or SOVA.

The group is kicking off their introduction to the students of the schools and the community with a series of talks by Iuri Melo, a therapist and speaker from southern Utah whom the SOVA students love for his positivity and energy. Melo will speak with students at each of the schools, and the talks will include panels with members of SOVA so students can get to know the members who go to their school.

A community event at the Lewiston High School P1FCU Performing Arts Center will take place Wednesday. Melo and members of SOVA will make a presentation from 6-7 p.m., and mental health and community vendors will be available with resources from 7-8 p.m. The community event will introduce SOVA to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley so the public can connect with the group and encourage its impact.

It’s fitting for Melo to be part of the kick off for SOVA since he was part of the group’s foundation. He already talked with educators and parents about issues in the school and SchoolPulse, an email and text messaging platform that helps students address their mental health. Superintendents and principals at the school districts also got a group of students together to meet with Melo.

“Adults were trying really hard to fix some of the problems we were having in the community and it wasn’t working, so they decided to go directly to the source,” said LHS senior Jazmyn Smith.

The students had an idea of what was happening when they had their first meeting. A lot of the conversation was about mental health issues, which Clarkston High School junior Brenna Keene said became deep and emotional and helped the students connect with each other. The group will continue to focus on mental health at their schools.

“People struggle to know what their place is. They struggle to know why they matter, even though their presence is so important. People are struggling to make connections, maybe struggling at home,” Keene said. “Our goal is to get those people in our community and establish connection with as many people as we can. So that maybe we can make someone’s day better or we can make, hopefully, someone’s life better.”

Tammany High School junior Roselynn Oviatt thinks the mental health conversations with the group helped the students themselves deal with the issues at the schools, including some recent loss and grief. For her, she realized that she wasn’t going it alone, especially talking with other teenagers who understood what she was going through.

CREATING FOCUS

Melo also had the students write down three things they liked about their school and three things they wished they could change. The students realized that they were all struggling with similar things in the schools. Some of the issues they discussed were the overall mental health of students, a lack of a good support system or grief support system, a lack of school spirit or involvement, as well as negativity and anger directed at teachers and others.

The students came up with some ideas they wanted to implement to create more community involvement, positivity and a support system. From that they identified different groups to help in those areas.

One focus is improving the community as well as encouraging participation in school activities. For example, Asotin High School has classes competing against each other for “spirit points” which has increased attendance at games. Or spreading positivity like leaving notes for students on cars or having them read anonymously on the intercom.

Tammany doesn’t have student athletics, which brings a unique challenge to increasing school spirit. But some ideas shared are making Tammany shirts and sweatshirts, having dress-up days like LHS’s homecoming and doing more school assemblies.

SOVA also did outreach at the middle schools to help them become more comfortable when they get to high school and to check in with their mental health. Some of the students SOVA met with last year are now part of the group.

The other goal is to start a support system for students at the school. The SOVA student can be the go-to person for students who are struggling. The SOVA students have relationships with the counselors at the schools so they can better connect students to those resources.

The group’s social media accounts boost the messaging on those platforms and spread the word about SOVA. Not only will students at the schools become more familiar with SOVA, but they hope the community will learn about the group as well. That way the support system will be in place during tragic events or hard times.

“I definitely notice that when tragic things happen in our community we’re all very quick to find someone or something to put the blame on,” said Tammany junior Eliza Nick.

She wants the community to be a place of support instead of figuring out who to blame and dragging people down.

BY THE STUDENTS, FOR THE STUDENTS

SOVA is student-led, so all the ideas come from the students, even from the first meeting.

“We get a little bit of guidance but it’s nice putting the power in the students because it’s ultimately our issues that we’re dealing with,” said Asotin senior Noah Koehler. “I think there’s no better solution than what comes out of us because we’re the ones going through it and we’re the ones feeling it.”

All students have equal input, regardless of their year in school. Although Keene and others who were part of the group last year have learned what works and what doesn’t.

“It’s really nice that we’re student led, the teachers aren’t the ones talking because then we get to figure out how to be better leaders for ourselves,” she said. “We don’t have to be baby-sat all the time, we can just kinda figure things out.”

LHS school counselor Kaylin Roby said the ideas from the students have made adult intervention mostly unnecessary.

“I found myself in these meetings thinking things, not saying them, and then the students are taking the words from my head,” Roby said.

The fact that it’s student-led gives the students confidence and desire to do a good job.

Asotin principal Brendan Johnson said it’s refreshing for him to step back and let the kids make the decisions. He’s also seen the students grow in their leadership abilities.

“It’s the best thing I’ve been a part of as far as student leadership,” Johnson said.

Seniors like Smith and Asotin’s Kelsey Thummel have learned to be examples for their underclassmen. Smith has noticed that if older students step back and let other students speak up with some encouragement, they are comfortable voicing their good ideas. Thummel said those leadership skills will also build up the community.

“I can show these underclassmen that it’s OK to step out of your comfort zone and do things that don’t really seem like you want to do,” Thummel said. “Having it transfer on to the next generations and classes is something that’s really important.”

While Smith is sad to be leaving the group, she’s not worried about the future. The students who are part of the group and will be after she graduates will continue to come up with good ideas.

Her experiences through SOVA helped Smith grow and broadened her perspective on the issues that some of her fellow students were facing and the impact she can have.

“There’s people that don’t have a home to go to, a safe place to sleep at night. They don’t have a family they can talk to when they’re stressed out about school and about their grades. They need friends,” Smith said. “I can be that smiling face and that positive perspective to other people who may be struggling. I haven’t looked at it as a burden or a weight on my shoulder at all. It makes me feel happy that I can help someone else and that I can have an impact on someone else’s life.”

SOVA also broadened the perspective of Keene, who learned about the different experiences at different schools.

“It kinda showed me just because Lewiston has a new school doesn’t mean they don’t struggle at all. They need help and we need help,” Keene said. “We’re a whole valley and we should just be together to make our valley better. Because I really do love this place.”

FOUR SCHOOLS, ONE VALLEY

That fits with one of the other goals of SOVA — to bring all the schools together.

“We’re trying to be less divided, so we’re coming together with Idaho schools so it’s not like we’re divided by the state boundary or the river. Because problems we have are still going on in their school too,” said Asotin sophomore Carly Browne. “We’re trying to involve everyone and figure out a good solution for everyone.”

For the students at Lewiston, Clarkston, Asotin and Tammany, talking about the issues at the schools made them realize they all had similar issues. Because the schools are different sizes, some of what one school might struggle with isn’t as much of an issue at another school. It’s not all bad things either; sometimes they take the positives from one school and try to implement it at another school.

For Nick and Oviatt as Tammany students, they can sometimes feel left out among the schools in the community. Some people think the students were forced to attend Tammany, which is an alternative high school — but students chose to attend the school. That’s something the other students in SOVA know and realize.

“Sometimes it feels like we’re really isolated but just being in that (SOVA) community and seeing, ‘oh my gosh, we’re finally one,’ ” Oviatt said.

Keene said the group is a “judgment free zone,” no one is afraid to talk or feels less than. Oviatt enjoys being a part of the community of teenagers that support each other and where teenagers feel heard. Nick said that all the students can voice their opinion and every voice matters.

One of the ways SOVA builds that connection is they try to not have their meetings at the schools. Each town, like Lewiston, Clarkston or Asotin, will host an event but it will take place at a community location, like a library or hospital. Smith said it keeps the students on equal footing without feeling like it’s on someone’s turf.

The SOVA students also recognize how intermingled the students in the schools are. Kids from other schools will attend sport events and students will attend dances at other schools. The group wants the students to become more comfortable with students at other schools.

Friendships have also formed within SOVA. Part of that connection is because all the students at SOVA are there for the same reason.

“We all want the same thing out of this,” Browne said. “We’re all there willing to do our best to help everyone, not just in that group, but in our schools, and then having it spread outward from there.”

In less than a year the group knit together, even the summer didn’t throw them off. Koehler said when they had their meeting after the summer they picked up right where they left off.

MOVING FORWARD WITH POSITIVITY

Even though SOVA is still in the planning stage, some schools have already seen some impacts in their schools. Some of the schools have done different activities to spread positivity, kindness and school spirit. Smith has noticed a difference in how the school responds to negative events. In the past, the negativity tended to build on itself and create a downward spiral.

“This year, we had some really tough things happen but there have been a lot of boosts of positivity and kindness,” Smith said. “I don’t know if that’s just a perspective I have from this group, that I’m looking at it through a positive perspective so I can see those good things happening.”

The group is wanting to move forward and do more work in their schools and community. That’s the reason for the community event with Melo and the talks at the school. The group wants to get the word out about SOVA so other students in their schools know who they are and can talk to them if they are having issues. SOVA also wants to have more students involved in the community with service projects and other events. The goal is that by building community, connection and support within SOVA, it will transfer to the schools and then the entire Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.

“That’s what makes a community is everyone helping each other,” Nick said.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.

IF YOU GO

What: Community talk with Iuri Melo and the Students of the Valley Advocacy

When: 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, with mental health and community vendors available from 7-8 p.m.

Where: Lewiston High School P1FCU Performing Arts Center

MORE INFORMATION

SchoolPulse: schoolpulse.org

Iuri Melo: iuritmelo.com