Seniors Gabrielle Martis (President), Anna McNulty (Vice President), and Lydia Kim (Secretary) are officers of the Centreville High School chapter of Active Minds, an organization dedicated to mental health awareness and education for young adults.  Active Minds (activeminds.com) started in 2003 as a nonprofit college-based program.  Centreville began its chapter in the 2017-2018 school year, and had the distinction of being the first school in the country to establish a high school-based chapter.

Gabrielle, Anna, and Lydia became involved as freshmen.  When the previous board members graduated in 2018, they became increasingly active and grew the Active Minds Club from a few students to over forty members. Gabrielle says, “We made it our mission to truly utilize the Club as a resource for many to be candid with their emotions while learning how to aid others who are experiencing difficulties as well. Although difficult to organize at first, we developed a consistent plan for our monthly meetings where we taught our members about different mental health disorders, discussed scenarios and tactics to help ourselves, and created activities together to establish a calming environment. As a result, we have garnered passionate members from all grades who willingly come together to openly discuss their mental health.” As Club leaders, their goal is to help students understand the universality of their feelings by talking and sharing with others. They note that the first step in addressing any challenge is always one of recognition.

The Club has experienced an increase in membership from students in lower grades, as well as greater gender diversity. During the pandemic, the club instituted a pen pal system to enable members to build community among themselves and to safely engage with each other. Gabrielle, Anna, and Lydia believe that students who feel more comfortable and open with their feeling

Seniors Gabrielle Martis (President), Anna McNulty (Vice President), and Lydia Kim (Secretary) are officers of the Centreville High School chapter of Active Minds, an organization dedicated to mental health awareness and education for young adults.  Active Minds started in 2003 as a nonprofit college-based program.  Centreville began its chapter in the 2017-18 school year and had the distinction of being the first school in the country to establish a high school-based chapter.

Gabrielle, Anna, and Lydia became involved as freshmen. When the previous board members graduated in 2018, they became increasingly active and grew the Active Minds Club from a few students to over forty members. Gabrielle says, “We made it our mission to truly utilize the Club as a resource for many to be candid with their emotions while learning how to aid others who are experiencing difficulties as well. Although difficult to organize at first, we developed a consistent plan for our monthly meetings where we taught our members about different mental health disorders, discussed scenarios and tactics to help ourselves, and created activities together to establish a calming environment. As a result, we have garnered passionate members from all grades who willingly come together to openly discuss their mental health.” As Club leaders, their goal is to help students understand the universality of their feelings by talking and sharing with others. They note that the first step in addressing any challenge is always one of recognition.

The Club has experienced an increase in membership from students in lower grades, as well as greater gender diversity. During the pandemic, the club instituted a pen pal system to enable members to build community among themselves and to safely engage with each other. Gabrielle, Anna, and Lydia believe that students who feel more comfortable and open with their feelings create a calmer, safer environment with fewer conflicts, thereby creating an environment less conducive to bullying and other negative behavior. According to Gabrielle, “Our message is that every individual student’s mental health is important.”

s create a calmer, safer environment with fewer conflicts, thereby creating an environment less conductive to bullying and other negative behavior. According to Gabrielle, “Our message is that every individual student’s mental health is important.”