EVERETT – Knot in the stomach of Nota Suvanchote started every day at 11 am
This made him think carefully about how to navigate the queue for lunch at school so that no one would find out that he was entitled to a free or discounted lunch.
The knot will last for five years – through high school and high school.
“I didn’t want friends to know. We were very poor. We came from Bangkok when I was four. When we came here, we shared a studio apartment with four other people, ”the Seattle-based filmmaker told about 70 teenagers and young people at a recent conference on mental health at Everett Community College.
There is an old saying: it doesn’t matter what others think, he said.
But it does matter – fear, apprehension can turn into anxiety and depression.
“I was filled with fear and anxiety,” the 30-year-old Suvanchote said.
In his story, children nodded and exchanged knowledgeable views with each other.
Two girls follow the example of Iza Narag (center) during yoga classes at the Leadership Launch “Emotion Commotion” event at Everett Public College in Everett. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Suvanchot offered his story to the teens who took part in the “Emotion Commotion: Connecting and Leading Through Mental Wellness and Self Expression” event, which lasted noon, organized by members of the Leadership Launch.
The nonprofit was organized eight years ago by Mukilteo resident Rachel Keatle as an informal mentoring group for five children at risk. Today it has 22 members and many graduates.
Every year the group organizes a community project. Past efforts include cultural diversity holidays and a free mobile dental clinic.
This year’s project was simple – focused on mental health.
According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control, more than a third of high school students last year experienced poor mental health, and 44% said they felt “constantly” sad or hopeless.
Alex Marcello (right), 14, and Gareth Verrelen, 16, paint stones during the “Emotion Commotion” event at Leadership Launch. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
More than half of respondents said they had been emotionally abused by parents or adults in the home; 11% reported physical violence, including beatings, beatings or kicking.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual teens reported higher levels of ill mental health and emotional abuse from parents or guardians, and a third of students said they experienced racism before or during the pandemic, the report said.
For the past two years, Jeslin Kelso, a high school senior at Kamiak and a member of Leadership Launch, has watched her classmates struggle with anxiety and depression.
“After the pandemic, I felt we all needed a place where we could get together and take care of ourselves,” Kelsa said.
The teens gather around Azrael Howell before heading out for a silent, meditative walk during the “Emotion Commotion” event as part of the Leadership Launch. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
From poetry and rock painting to improvisation and martial arts, the events have been designed to appeal to both introverted and outspoken teens, said 17-year-old Glenda Vabaluku, a senior at Kamiak and a member of Leadership Launch. Vabaluka brought with her 15-year-old sister Glodie, a freshman.
In master classes and small groups, children shared stories of trying to fit into a new foster family, trying to get along with a stepfather or stepmother, or trying to reconcile with a sibling.
Katie Kofi Solberg’s poetry workshop invited children to write about where they come from.
Many shared their words aloud:
• “I am out of love. I’m from the strawberry fields where my mother worked. ”
• “I’m from adoption and feel lonely from the drugs my mom was taking.”
• “I’m from the streets of Brooklyn, from razors and bottles.”
• “Anytime something inside you has to come out, take a notebook and write,” Kofi Solberg told students. “Poetry can help you with that.”
The girls are working together on a creative project during the Emotion Commotion event as part of the Leadership Launch at Everett Public College. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Gracelyn Shibayama, another keynote speaker, told a scary story about adoption at the age of five and pocketing as a teenager.
At age 16, her foster mother kicked her out of the house for “doing too much harm to the family,” she said.
Shibayama went to live with his aunt and uncle, who insisted that she go to therapy.
“I thought it was a waste of time,” she said.
Four years later, her 25-year-old brother died of a heroin overdose. She sought advice.
“We all need therapy,” Sibayama told participants. “We all need support and help.”
Shibayama graduated from Washington University Bottel in 2015. Today, she is the event coordinator at the Edmonds Arts Center.
“I was asked to be the presenter,” she said later. “I didn’t know exactly what I was going to say.”
Teenagers listen to 15-year-old Glodi Vabaluku (center) read a poem she wrote during the “Emotion Commotion” event at Leadership Launch. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
According to her, attending a poetry lesson by Kofi Solbert gave her the courage to uncover the emotional rupture and chaos that enveloped her childhood.
“I’ve seen people feel heavy emotions,” Sibayama said.
John Rollins, president of Leadership Launch, offered the children a unique way to look at their families and how they approach through the creation of “family sculpture”.
His own childhood was spent under the sign of a stepfather who wanted only one, he said, “knock us out.”
Participants selected other teens to replace family members and then assembled them in front of the class.
“It’s my mom and dad. I stand next to them because we are close. These are my brothers – I put them on the other side of the room, because we are not near, ”the teenager explains his configuration.
Another teenager put his biological father in the far corner of the class. “He’s out of the picture,” he said.
Jeslin Kelsa, 16, mates with 17-year-old Alberto Garcia during a martial arts session at the Emotion Commotion event at Leadership Launch. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
15-year-old Kelsey McIver, a student at Snahomish High School, created a family sculpture that included someone to replace her twin sister, who died in childbirth.
Rawlins invited her to hug the man who was interceding for her sister. McIver held back tears.
“It was hard to share that experience,” she said later.
The experience, Makiver said, helped her see, “that we all come from different backgrounds. We all have our problems, and we should value everyone. ”
“Today we shared some pretty big things,” Rollins said, concluding the exercise. “Emotions around this may be overwhelming.”
Mohammed Abdi, a 24-year-old member of Tuquila City Council, led the teenagers to create “vision boards” – posters depicting who they are and what they aspire to.
Kevin Lung leads a group of martial arts students during the “Emotion Commotion” Leadership Launch at Everett Public College in Everett. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
18-year-old Regina Lewis, a student at the University of Seattle Pacific and a member of Leadership Launch, sat on the floor with her 12-year-old sister Isabel. They took scissors and cut out words and pictures from magazines to illustrate their boards.
When the pandemic began, Regina Lewis was a student at ACES High School in Everett. Her last year of high school evaporated.
“I was a senior when COVID happened,” Lewis said. “It was hard for me to go from virtual to hybrid to personal. I had depression. I had panic and anxiety. ”
“High school and college students are struggling. This is a way to help them, ”she said of the event.
Janis Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com;
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