Southampton High School Shines Light On Mental Health Awareness Month

For Natasha Jeffries, May is an emotionally charged month.

For the last four years, it has marked the most devastating anniversary of her life — the death of her 21-year-old son, Dakari Brown, who struggled with depression and committed suicide in 2017, during none other than Mental Health Awareness Month.

But Ms. Jeffries, who works in special education at Southampton High School, has turned her pain toward progress.

“After he committed suicide, it really has become part of my mission in life to raise the awareness and erase the stigma for young people,” she said, “and to let them know that there is hope and they’re not alone, and that there’s nothing wrong with them if they’re suffering with any type of mental illness or disorder.”

For the first time in its history, Southampton High School shone a light on Mental Health Awareness Month through a charge led by Ms. Jeffries and the school’s mental health team, which organized a series of initiatives aimed to spark conversations, compassion and understanding among the student body.

“I’m just grateful that we’re able to begin this work. We’re taking it seriously,” Ms. Jeffries said. “People are struggling — young people, old people — people are struggling. As much hope and positivity that we can share and spread, we need to be doing that on a daily basis.”

Every morning throughout the month, students and staff have read positive affirmations during daily announcements. On Mondays, they also include a “Mindful Minute” exercise with school psychologist Brooke Ross and, on Wednesdays, a statistic about mental health.

“A lot of young people are suffering, and they’re suffering in silence, and the pandemic did not help that. It only added to it,” Ms. Jeffries said. “I felt like, as a school, we are in a perfect position to help — and to raise awareness.”

On Friday, May 21, a Plank for Positivity Challenge will serve as a fundraiser for The Hype Scholarship and Dakari’s Hope, in memory of Ms. Jeffries’s son, with a donation match from the Southampton Village PBA — as well as police participation in the endurance challenge at the school gymnasium, which hosted a similar event earlier this month.

Throughout the high school, the mental health team also installed “Walls of Fame” — featuring photos and quotes of celebrities who are open about their mental health challenges — and every Wednesday, the staff hides stress balls throughout the building, along with one that is a different color. The student who eventually finds it wins a prize.

At the end of the month, on May 27, students, faculty and staff will participate in a short “color run” during 10th period, where volunteers will spray them with colored chalks that each represent a different mental health diagnosis.

Other initiatives include a cupcake sale, a mural painting by students that reads, “You Matter,” and customized masks for teachers, which arrived last week, Ms. Jeffries said.

“The mask I’m wearing today says, ‘I believe you,’” she said. “The point is that when a student looks at me, they read that message from me to them, saying, ‘I believe in you.’”

While it’s hard to gauge the reach of the campaign so far, Ms. Jeffries said a student recently approached her in the hallway to share her battle with depression — and it was someone she never expected.

“You never know who your efforts are going to impact,” she said. “If one person, at the end of this month, feels like there’s hope or feels encouraged or feels like, ‘It’s okay for me to talk about it,’ then I’m pleased with that. I’ll be pleased with that.”