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Bishop McCort Catholic students brighten mental health with positivity

Tribune-Democrat - 11/21/2019

Nov. 21--This program is spreading positivity one bathroom at a time.

A group of students at Bishop McCort Catholic High School have come together to send an important message to their peers that they matter.

Over the past few weeks, students in Amanda Fettro-Woodruff's visual arts class and students in Heather Newcomer's personal wellness class re-energized the first floor girls' and boys' bathrooms with vibrant message of encouragement, hope and acceptance.

The effort is designed to promote body positivity for the entire student body.

"The students thought long and hard about the sayings they were going to put out there and them just working together was a positive experience for them -- somebody may have come up with the saying and some of them with the art work and they all took turns helping paint each stall," said Newcomer, a health a physical education teacher. "They've received such an outpouring of positive feedback from teachers, staff and other students."

Freshmen Lily Newcomer said students wanted to spread more positivity throughout the school.

"There was 20 of us and we painted the stalls and mirrors with positive messages that we thought of together and we painted them in different colors to brighten up the bathrooms," she said. "I hope everyone who reads them realizes that they all have a good body and not to be down on themselves."

Mary Smith said in class they talked about how personal wellness is mental health as well.

"When you're inspiring other people and brightening their mental health through positive messages that's also good for the personal wellness side of things," the sophomore said. "Sometimes people have a rough day at school, so hopefully when they go in there and see a nice, positive message they'll cheer up and smile."

The hope is the messages will lift the spirits of someone in need.

"The goal is for them to feel good about themselves," Newcomer said. "They might not be having a good day, but when they walk into the bathroom maybe they'll feel better."

The plan is to expand the program into additional bathrooms next semester.

"We'll have a new group of students and would like to do the same thing with them," Newcomer said.

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