New club helps Calhoun students ‘COPE’ with stress

On the softball field, under the intense gaze of parents, coaches and fellow athletes, Calhoun High School junior Megan Vecchione practices a technique to help clear her mind. She imagines inhaling a “happy” color — yellow sunshine, perhaps — and exhaling a “negative” color, such as a somber blue, and slowly her stress melts away. It’s a tip she swears by, and she hopes other students can use it, too. 

Vecchione is a co-founder of Collectively Overcoming Problems Effectively, or COPE, a for-youth, by-youth club to counter mental illness stigmas, promote healthy habits and bridge the gap between students and the Central High School District’s mental health resources. She founded COPE with fellow Calhoun juniors Emma Bhansingh, Lauren Pagliari and Sophie Takmopoulos....

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Bethany`s Notes: What a great group at the HS level taking ownership and finding ways to support their peers.