Awareness Week Inspires Action Among the M-A Community  

Leadership hosted their annual Awareness Week on the Green last week. From school clubs to local organizations, each day brought discussion about various topics through games, trivia, and flyers. 

“We focused on topics that we thought were important to the student body, and just in general, with everything that’s going on right now,” junior Caroline Rose, one of the organizers of Awareness Week, said. “It is a fun time for students to relax, but also get the resources and learn about important topics in our daily lives.” 

The first day of Awareness Week brought attention to the disability community. Clubs such as the Deaf Culture Club and Neurodivergent Club handed out candy and  discussed the support they give.

“My parents are deaf, so that’s a big reason why it’s important for me that people learn about it,” senior Faith Schubin, president of the Deaf Culture Club, said.

“Neurodivergent disorders are on a spectrum, so no two people are going to be exactly the same,” sophomore Alexandra Zykova, president of the Neurodiverency Club, said. 

The second day recognized Education Awareness, a time to reflect on the value of learning and the power of education to shape our futures. Classes and clubs like AVID and the Golden Stars Club participated to spread recognition of the resources they provide to students.

“In today’s world, education is really important for not only things like financial success, but also to be more informed about the world and make decisions that are more rational about political and social issues,” junior Sam Shirley, a member of the Golden Stars Club, said.

“I’ve seen and noticed that there are a lot of first generation students in school that don’t take advantage of AVID,” senior Yandel Hernandez said. “It helps you prepare for a four-year or even community college.”

On the third day, AP Environmental Science students held an Environmental Fair to educate people on how they can change their habits to make a difference in the environment through a variety of fun activities.

“It’s all student created projects, and they just kind of do their thing as a way to contribute and raise environmental awareness,” APES teacher Lance Powell said.

Students displayed experiments on various environmental topics, such as the dangers of flushing down different products and of microplastics. “Micro plastics are everywhere. They’re in your food, they’re in your water,” junior Asher Harris said. “You can even breathe them in and they’ll go straight into your brain.” 

Read more about the Environmental Fair here. 

The fourth day celebrated the women and LGBTQ+ community on campus. A variety of clubs participated, doing anything from selling baked goods to making friendship bracelets. 

“Reading in general is really important in today’s world, as we start to only really consume media like shorter content. It’s nice to fully delve into a topic like you do with a book,” senior Silvana Schmidt, president of the Women in Literature Club, said. 

“No matter how you identify, GSA (Gender Sexual Alliance)  is a completely safe space for everyone, regardless of their identity, gender, or sexual orientation,” senior Zoe Fong, president of M-A’s GSA, said. “We inform people about queer history, queer activism, and knowing your rights as a queer student.”

On the last day, multiple organizations came out to give crucial information about youth mental health, offering resources, support, and guidance.  

“Mental health therapy wasn’t really brought up to me growing up as an option, and it’s nice coming back to my community and making it an accessible resource for folks in my hometown,” Yossi Zavala, a member of Outlet, a program to help LGBTQ+ youth get the therapy they need, said.

“We’re there to support individuals who are either going through suicidality, but also just challenges to mental health and just having a particularly hard day,” Walter Ng, a supervisor for the Star Vista Crisis Center, said.