Students Gather Around Green for Annual Awareness Week

Leadership brought its annual Awareness Week to the Green, inviting students, clubs, and community organizations to address some of today’s most pressing issues. Each day highlighted a new topic, giving Bears a chance to explore important matters through activities and informational tables. 

Monday kicked off the week with a focus on the disabled community, shedding light on both mental and physical disabilities. Rather than simply handing out information, junior and event organizer Miya Yu* gave students something to do with their hands, crafting homemade stress balls with balloons and Play-Doh. The activity gave students a hands-on way to learn about tools that can help provide a physical outlet for releasing excess energy and help combat mental disabilities such as ADHD and anxiety.

“It really helps me stay focused and calm,” junior Finn Doherty, one of the students who made a stress ball on Monday, said. “I had a test the next period and it helped me keep my nerves down so I could think through my answers.”

For the second day, voter engagement took the spotlight. Students learned about the importance of registering to vote and further understood how their participation matters. Junior Piper Rosenthal*, the student behind Tuesday’s activities, had a table with QR codes for students to both register and pre-register to vote, ensuring they are signed up for their first eligible election. Students also had the chance to write letters to the government about causes they care about.

Rosenthal created the lunch event to push back against the discouraged mindset of many young voters. “A lot of the time, the idea is that ‘My vote doesn’t matter because I’m just one person,’ but if everyone thinks like that, that’s going to lead to a bigger issue of nobody voting,” she said. 

“For me, registering to vote is really important, because especially in politics these days, having a say in the election does have an impact,” senior Gabby Rothstein, one of the many students who registered to vote on Tuesday, said. “Right now, I think there needs to be a change.”

Halfway through the week, students turned their attention to the planet. Environmental Awareness Day filled the Green with displays and activities created by students in AP Environmental Science, displaying the relationship between human habits and their impact on the environment. One booth drew students in with a surprising spin: a blind milk taste test. The booth offered six types of milk and milk alternatives for students to sample, ranging from almond milk to whole milk. Students had to guess which type they were drinking before learning about the carbon footprint associated with each kind of milk.

“We’re trying to raise awareness about the carbon footprint of dairy products or common materials, and the production of them,” junior Harper Williams said. “A lot of times, people don’t realize that the milk that they’re drinking every day has that much of a carbon footprint.” 

Thursday was all about community and belonging. Students were invited to sign up for clubs and organizations that support LGBTQ+ students and empower women’s voices on campus. The Pink Ribbon Alliance, a breast cancer awareness club, was one group among the booths, using candy and a sign-up sheet to welcome potential members.

“Awareness week is just helping people around campus to know more about these certain issues,” junior and M-A Feminists club leader Juliet West said. “Today is Gender and Sexuality Day, and we’re just trying to inform our people about certain issues that women go through daily through our trivia game.” 

On the last day, multiple organizations came together to provide information on youth mental health, offering resources, support, and guidance. The Al-Anon organization, which set up its own booth, provides , anonymous support groups tohelp people navigate a friend or family member’s alcohol or drug abuse. Alateen, one of the organization’s branches, offers a program designed for teenagers facing similar situations.

“Just knowing that other people have similar struggles and that you can support each other and talk to each other about it anonymously, I think it’s important,” Deborah Sanders, an adult representative for Al-Anon, said.

Sanders, who grew up with an alcoholic father, shared that finding community support had a great impact on her own life.”I just feel so much more at peace,” she said. “Talking to other people who are in the same situation really helps you see the clarity of how much you physically can’t change another person, but you can still love them and support them,” Sanders added. 

*Miya Yu and Piper Rosenthal are journalists for the M-A Chronicle.