Zachary Somma, Reporter

  The Speak To Me room held its ribbon cutting ceremony on October 23 in the history hallway near the front entrance, will be used as a place for students to decompress, to break away from the stresses of everyday life for a small amount of time.

  “It’s a safe space for students to go… if they’re stressing out if they have an AP Euro or CHS test in the same day, or they had a fight with their best friend, they can go to the Speak to Me room and find a safe place,” said Ms. Hester, teacher advocate for the project.

  The room will be almost completely student-driven. Students who come to the room can discuss their problems and stresses with an appointed peer, rather than a counselor or adult.

  “If you want to talk about a relationship with another teen, you’d want to talk to another teen about that because they get it, not that adults haven’t been there before, but we’re so far removed from that.” said Ms.Hester.

  These peers will be trusted people and will be trained by the counselors on how to act and how to help and comfort troubled students.

  Though there is no set schedule for the room yet, there are plans and ideas for what students will be able to do in the room. Students will be provided iPads with meditation and relaxation apps, and there are plans for scheduled PLT activity days, such as yoga, or large-group meditation. Ms. Hester hopes to have the room open to students in the next few months.

  The room is the brainchild of Change Agents, a group made up of recently graduated students Eric Macadangdang, Lindsay Bosco, Amanda Ramirez, and current senior Cassie Schiffhauer. Last year, the group successfully applied for a $20,000 grant for the room from The Pittsburgh Foundation and the LUMA Institute.

  “A large majority of students suffer from from mental health disorders in some way, one thing that Eric [Macadangdang] said was that you could walk down the hall in Montour and be right next to another student and have no idea that he/she suffers from something. So if we have no idea, we aren’t doing anything to help that student.” said Ms. Hester about the importance of the Speak To Me room.

  “We wanted to provide something that was safe, not only so that we could reach out and help people, but we could also provide something so that students aren’t afraid to ask for help.”

  At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, high school principal Mr. Price said the room is “truly a student space,”while Superintendent Dr. Stone said he was “blown away” by both the room and the effort it took to create it.

 Ms. Hester says the goal of the room is to create “a more mentally healthy school district. We would love for it to be so successful for our students to be happier and healthier everyday, to be less stressed, to handle whatever life is throwing at them. If this is something beneficial that can help our students, maybe other area districts will catch on, and help their students the same way.”