Bring Change to Mind at SHS

Bring Change to Mind is a non-profit organization committed to ending the stigma surrounding mental illness. The organization’s goals are to “empower students to educate one another and their communities, and to create a culture of peer support within their schools.” Bring Change to Mind has had a profound impact on people worldwide, specifically high school students–some of them attending Scituate High School. 

When senior Lily Carnes realized SHS did not offer a mental health club, she took the initiative of starting one herself. After doing some research, Bring Change to Mind caught her attention, and she “contacted them on wanting to bring [this] club to Scituate High school,” she said.

After gaining leeway from the administration, Carnes searched for an advisor to help her lead the club.  While forming a special bond with SHS art teacher Julie Hickey throughout her time at SHS, Carnes knew that Hickey’s kindness and experience with the club Allies Not Bystanders would make her ideal for this role. 

According to Carnes, Bring Change to Mind at SHS  “offers open conversations about mental health, works to get rid of the stigma that surrounds it, offers resources for students that are looking to seek help, and information for people who just want to learn more about mental health.”

Currently, the Bring Change to Mind Club meets every other Wednesday, and the members are working to raise awareness around the school. By putting posters all around the school, whether in the hallways, classrooms, or bathrooms, the club hopes more people at SHS have heard about what it has to offer. 

Junior Jane McGuiggin, a member of Bring Change to Mind, ”loves the goals of the club” and appreciates knowing that everything the club is doing is positively helping the school. According to McGuiggin, the club “sticks by the name,” as it “lets more people know the truth about mental health and breaks the stigma.” McGuiggin, Carnes, and other members of the club have been actively spreading information around the school about Bring Change to Mind to raise awareness about the club and even more importantly–to bring awareness to the cause.  Although the club just started this year, it has already helped many students at SHS in its efforts. 

Carnes hopes that Bring Change to Mind helps students think about mental health in a different way because it “is something that everyone has–good or bad.” She wants people to know it is “okay to not be okay” and that Bring Change to Mind provides “a safe space for open conversations” within the walls of Scituate High School.