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Rowan County students highlight 'Joyful Journeys' mental‑wellness work and statewide outreach
Summary
Students and district SEL staff presented Joyful Journeys, a student-led mental wellness program that uses activities such as Erica's Lighthouse, Character Strong lessons, suicide-prevention outreach, and community volunteering; the group also presented at a Frankfort behavioral-health event and drew interest from other districts.
Josh Holbrook, Rowan County’s social‑emotional learning coach, and Tara Cornett, the district AWARE coordinator, introduced six student representatives who described activities and outreach conducted by the Joyful Journeys mental‑wellness group at Rowan County Middle School.
“It's simply a mental‑well‑being club,” Holbrook said, explaining the group’s aim to reduce stigma, promote help‑seeking and build a sense of belonging through activities, volunteering and schoolwide lessons. Students described a range of projects: Erica's Lighthouse beacons to identify trusted adults, a “take a compliment” poster campaign, distributing information and bracelets with crisis resources, posting footprints that lead to mental‑health facts and trusted adults, and volunteering with The Salvation Army.
Students said the group introduced the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline information to peers and handed out bracelets and resource cards in the cafeteria. “We distributed mental‑health crisis information to raise awareness about the 988 suicide and crisis line,” said Maurice Watson, a student representative.
The students also recounted delivering their presentation at an event in Frankfort described in the meeting as the Kentucky Child's Behavioral Health Awareness Day; district staff said mental‑health professionals from other districts contacted them afterward and expressed interest in replicating the work. Holbrook said the students led the activities and that adult staff provided supervision.
The presenters directed listeners to a Facebook page identified in the meeting as the Rowan County Behavioral Health Team for recordings and further information. They said the program uses the Character Strong tier‑one curriculum and aims to increase student and adult engagement, belonging and well‑being.
Board members applauded the students for the presentation; no formal board action followed.
