Green Dot
From classroom walls to bathroom stalls, Green Dot slogans can be seen throughout the school. However, many might not know the full truth about what Green Dot is, and what impact it has on our community. Green Dot is a larger program that attempts to take on bullying, dating violence and sexual assault. The largest part of this is the Green Dot Bystander Training, which is a full day training that takes a deep dive into how to identify and prevent or stop these activities from occurring or progressing. Green Dot has played a large part in our school for coming up on a decade.
“[In the] fall of 2015, we heard about a program called Green Dot,” Dr. Nelson said. “And the one thing I really liked about it is that it had been tested in a five year study by the CDC. The whole state of Kentucky had done it,” said Dr. Nelson, the Prevention and Wellness Coordinator at LHS.
Green Dot was slowly introduced into the school over the coming years and has begun to change the culture of anti-bullying and wellness. Arguably the most well known element of Green Dot is the Bystander Training. Once every month, groups of students spend a full school
day taking a deep dive into how to prevent harassment and harm, and how to get people the help they need.
“We used to have to really recruit for the bystander trainings,” Dr. Nelson said “I think word has gotten out that this is a valuable experience and you learn something. It’s a day well spent, and it really gets you familiarized with what is this thing called Green Dot, and why it’s important to school culture.”
Since its introduction to LHS, many of the school’s athletic teams have embraced Green Dot, with many student athletes taking the bystander training to strengthen awareness of harm in a sports setting and the introduction of Green Dot games on the theme of prevention and mental health awareness.
“It really gets you into it. it introduces you to Dr. Nelson and how you can talk to her about even more clubs,” Senior Jordan Coughlin, said about the Bystander Training.
If interested in more information about Green Dot, Bystander Trainings are held monthly and freshmen are introduced to the program in their Fall PE/Health classes. Also, look out for Green Dot Action day, which is held twice a year.
Wildcats Rise
Life of a Wildcat is the broader brand for all wellness activities at LHS including Wildcats Rise and Senior Wellness Board. These initiatives are student-led and organized to promote wellness through school events and media that can be seen throughout the school, such as the Paw
Street Journal.
“I am a strong believer, just over the course of my career, [that] when students take on the experience of planning something and then leading [it], it is really, really empowering,” Nelson said.
Student leadership opportunities not only help people get the help they need, but benefit the student leaders themselves.
“Participating in initiatives benefited me from an experience standpoint, by helping me become a better leader in the school by understanding multiple different things including the effects of mental health, drugs/alcohol, and bullying,” Junior Cecily Hamburg said.
Drug and alcohol as well as suicide prevention is also a large part of the wellness initiative. Trainings such as First Aid for Alcohol Poisoning, QPR Suicide Prevention Training, and Teen Mental Health First Aid training are held periodically throughout the year during lunch periods.
Promoting wellness at LHS is important and made possible by devoted adults and determined
student leaders. If interested in participating in any of these initiatives, make sure to check your
school email as well as the school website and calendar for upcoming events and training. If interested in joining Wildcats Rise, the club meets every other Wednesday before school.
“If you have the opportunity to do all these things and you want to get involved, or just try to see what it is, then definitely get involved,” Senior Victoria Ivanov said.
Paws Street Journal
When entering the restrooms at LHS, it would be hard to miss the Paws Street Journal. This publication is filled with upcoming wellness events, helplines and even jokes has a background that may be more than what meets the eye. The Paw Street Journal is organized, written, and formatted by LHS students to promote wellness and provide resources for people who may need help.
Senior Alex Brown, along with other students on Senior Wellness Board and Wildcats Rise, work to create each month’s edition of the Paw Street Journal and populate it with dates of upcoming events, hotlines for people in distress, and even a few jokes to make people laugh, all tied together with a colorful seasonal theme for each month’s issue. “I personally enjoy the jokes and I find the calendar helpful,” Brown said. “I saw the Paw Street Journal around school and I thought it was really cool and I was interested in making it.”
