Students’ mental health gets a fresh check

Lexi Wicks, Staff Reporter
May 26, 2021

The SURC was filled with music, chatter and students as the Wellness Center hosted Fresh Check Day Wednesday, May 19. Booths lined the room representing different mental health resources and activities for students. Each table was filled with pamphlets and flyers for various student mental health resources as well as free gifts and prizes.

These booths include CWU Student Counseling, CWU Health Services, Campus Police, Veterans Center, CWU Recreation, Outdoor Pursuits and Rentals(OPR), and CWU Presidents United to Solve Hunger (P.U.S.H.) to name a few.

Fresh Check Day is a signature program of the Jordan Porco Foundation and aims to create an approachable atmosphere for students to speak out about mental health.

It helps bridge any gaps between students and available mental health resources on campus. This event occurs annually in order to keep students updated and supported.

Each booth had activities for students to slow down and address their mental health. Some of these activities include painting rocks, planting seeds, coloring, creating masks and playing games to win prizes.

At the entrance of the event every participant was given a card as a reward for getting involved at several booths. After participating, students could get a stamp on their card that later allowed them to get a free slice of pizza and enter to win a raffle.

“I think it went so much better than we could have expected,” said Arryn Welty, office assistant at The Wellness Center. “There were definitely some nerves in holding an in-person event for the first time in a year, but I don’t think it could have gone better.”

Judging from the feedback Welty received during and after the event she was delighted to hear that several students were able to get in touch with programs they either did not know existed, did not know how to contact, or maybe wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise.

“Knowing that we were able to meet students where they were and provide that resources for them directly is really wonderful,” Welty said. “There are still some boundaries to access for students as far as mental health services go, and it’s events like this that allow those restrictions to access to kind of come down.”

Fresh Check Day is likely to happen again next May as part of a tribute to Mental Health Awareness Month.

“The most important thing to take away for students is just to know and understand what resources they have on campus,” Welty said. “And all of us within student success, it really is our highest priority to serve students and to remove those restrictions of access.”

The first ever Fresh Check Day on campus was held in 2019, but was not held in 2020. The Wellness Center was able to bring it back this Spring.

Resources:

Social & Emotional Support:

The Wellness Center

509-963-3213

Students’ mental health gets a fresh check

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