BRHS takes part in Cardinal Care Day – The Pioneer

BIG RAPIDS — Big Rapids High School hosted its first Cardinal Care Day on Friday, with the goal of teaching students about safety and wellness.

The school-wide event began with an introduction by principal Ron Pincumbe before students headed to four breakout sessions, which included substance abuse education, online safety, mental health and sexual health.

The event was organized by school guidance counselor Julie Aldrich, who wanted to create a space for teens to talk about important safety issues.

“I think it is becoming more and more important for students to feel safe at school,” she said. “When they don’t feel safe coming to school, it makes it harder for them to do well.”

During the sessions, students were instructed by various members of the community, including Spectrum Health Big Rapids Hospital employees, representatives at Ten16 Recovery Network, and law enforcement officials from the city, county and state.

These instructors discussed common issues facing today’s teens, such as anxiety and depression, cyber-bullying, vaping, alcohol consumption, the importance of self care and more.

According to Aldrich, by having students talk about these topics with adults in the community, they had the opportunity to learn about the local resources available to them.

“These topics came together based on various conversations we had in the guidance office about the types of issues students experience daily,” she said. “We wanted to do a lot with mental health because students struggle with anxiety and depression and it’s hard for them to be able to talk about that. Other topics came about because of conversations we had as a staff or because of things we’ve discussed with students.”

While it is the first time students took part in this event, Aldrich said the school plans on hosting more events like it in the future to be able to better assist students with any issues they may be facing.

“We’re hoping to have follow-up days to revisit some of these topics or to talk about new issues we think students are dealing with,” she said.