STEAM kicks off Mental Health Awareness Week with therapeutic clay work and flower planting

During the week of Tuesday, May 27 to Friday, May 30, the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy is hosting a Student Mental Health Spirit Week, offering students the opportunity to decompress from schoolwork by participating in fun activities and dressing up. This week, students will create clay spring gardens, plant zinnias and marigolds, and participate in mindful yoga, culminating in a Zenbrary event on Friday. 

The week kicked off with therapeutic clay work where scholars and staff made spring gardens. This event was sponsored by ArtsWestchester and led by Vicky Youngman, a teaching artist of the organization. Ms. Youngman helped students create their sculptures, and other volunteers provided support through the class. 

ArtsWestchester is a non-profit organization that supports the arts in Westchester County. Volunteers from this organization visit locations around Westchester, New York, bringing the joy of the arts to thousands of residents through art fairs, school programs, and exhibitions and performances. 

Students rolled out their air-dry clay using rolling pins and used textured mats and textile stamps to print patterns onto their structures. Smiles and laughs were shared between event attendees as they created their spring gardens in the school’s media center. 

On Wednesday, Rebecca Guziczek, a social studies teacher at STEAM, set out potting soil and flowers in the school atrium for students to participate in cultivating wellness through gardening. During this “Harmony in Bloom” event, students socialized with one another and planted buds of marigolds and zinnias into personal flower pots. Ms. Guziczek showed students how to plant and take care of these flowers. 

“This event is therapeutic because we get to go and work with our hands in the dirt, it’s relaxing, and we’re outside,” said Ms. Guziczek. “We’re taking deep breaths of fresh air and socializing and meeting new people.”