Pupils’ booklet on mental health reaches three finals

A booklet designed to help young people take care of their mental health has seen its six transition-year creators advance to the finals of three national competitions in the next month.

Bishopstown Community School students Aleksandra Jedrzejczyk, Niye Aihie, Liam Harrington, Maeve McGovern, Fiona Murphy, and Saulius Zurnia wanted readers of their booklet to really think about their mental health.

Therefore Changes asks people to take a new challenge every day for 30 days. Every day’s challenge builds on those before it and seeks to equip the reader with the skills necessary to keep managing their mental welfare, from analysing the way they talk and view themselves to nurturing the relationships they have with others.

The booklet, which had funding from the Young Social Innovators and Vodafone Ireland, has qualified the students for the Local Enterprise Office/Mini-Company national finals in Croke Park today. It is also up for the Young Social Innovators national finals on May 6 and the Junior Achievement Ireland Mini-Company finals in Dublin City University a week later.

The school’s transition-year co-ordinator, Alan White, worked on the book with the students and said he had been studying mental health for a number of years.

“This project has helped the class not only learn about running a business but has also taught them a great deal about mental health,” he said.

“We took the challenge ourselves over 30 days, we met each morning before class to read through each challenge together.”

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