Recently, the TJ Minds Matter club has been putting up stickers around the school. The club, which aims to reduce stress and increase mental health awareness, is part of the larger Our Minds Matter program started in 2016 by the Josh Anderson Foundation (JAF). The organization has reached over 50 schools, primarily in Fairfax County and Northern Virginia. The stickers, conceived by JAF, seek to help students identify teachers they can talk to about sensitive topics, such as mental health.

“We want to break down the boundary that can sometimes exist between students and teachers, especially surrounding sensitive issues such as mental health,” the club’s Vice President Robert Greene said. “We hope that these stickers would let students know that teachers are willing to listen so that everyone in the school has an adult they can talk to.”

These stickers are only a part of the club’s many activities to help promote mental health and reduce stress at TJ. In addition to monthly events, such as decorating pumpkins, writing letters to veterans, and frosting cookies, TJ Minds Matter has big plans for their annual Stress Less, Laugh More week.

“We plan to continue these events, since they’ve been huge successes. We also have huge plans for the week before AP tests, so stay tuned for more info about Stress Less, Laugh More week,” Greene said.

The activities that the club holds and sponsors are all done to achieve the club’s overall goal by building a less stressful and more positive learning environment.

“Our goal is to improve mental health throughout the school – whether that’s through increasing awareness of mental health resources, reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness, or sharing advice from members of the TJ community,” Greene said.

In a school where students are surrounded by constant stress and high expectations, the TJ Minds Matter club strives to provide valuable resources and opportunities for students to reach out,