ITC Students Share Mental Health Support through Suicide Awareness Month Event
Just keep going!It’s the message that ITC senior Lamyya Kithcart wrote on a downtown sidewalk in the Everson Plaza, part of Onondaga County’s “Chalk the Walk” Suicide Awareness Month event.
“Mental health is super important,” she shared. “I struggle with depression personally, and I like seeing motivational messages and positive things. I’m writing a message that reminds people to just keep going and push through.”
Lamyya and several of her classmates walked to the event to represent the Syracuse City School District at County Executive Ryan McMahon’s event – but Lamyya noted that this is the third year she has participated in a ‘Chalk the Walk’ event. Usually, she has worked with her classmates to fill the sidewalk outside of her school with positive messages.
ITC senior Schinaed Smith added her own message to the sidewalk, writing ‘self love is the best love.’
“A lot of my classmates have struggled with mental health,” she said. “I thought this would be a nice way to show support. Events like this help destigmatize mental health so it becomes easier for people to reach out for help if they’re struggling. It becomes easier to talk about mental health when people know there are others who care.”
Dozens of local representatives, including from Contact Community Services and the Onondaga County Suicide Prevention Coalition – as well as students from West Genesee and East Syracuse Minoa schools, came together to show that they care. They took turns sharing stories of how mental health struggles impact individuals, how they can be overcome, and what we can each do to make a difference.
“Having opportunities to spread positive messages is so important,” ITC Clinical Psychologist Dr. Althea Henry shared. “Anytime you can pull someone up, you should take advantage of that… even if it’s through messaging on the sidewalk!”
We’re so proud of our ITC students and staff for making the effort to participate in this important event!
