Jesuit High School understands that many members of our community struggle with mental health, and in order to offer support to students dealing with these issues, Jesuit has recently implemented the Wellness Center, a place for students to get help with their mental health issues.

“The wellness program is part of our outreach for students needing any additional support in mental health and wellness, meaning self-care,” said Director of Counseling Ms. Amanda Smith.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five high schoolers suffer from a diagnosed mental illness; however, over 80 percent of those affected do not receive the help they need.

To address this need, Jesuit’s Counseling Department has welcomed Ms. Kasey Cardinale as the new mental wellness counselor.

Previously, Ms. Cardinale started a successful wellness program at Saint Francis High School and hopes to continue this success by assisting students at Jesuit. Ms. Cardinale will be available to meet with students individually, and she will be running several small groups of select students dealing with similar issues.

“Per the tradition of cura personalis, the Jesuit Counseling Center has long been dedicated to serving the whole person,” Ms. Cardinale said. “Jesuit recognizes the need for mental health programming and crisis intervention resources.”

Even though our campus has the new Wellness Center, students at our school can work on taking better care of each other.

Principal Michael Wood ’99 hopes that the awareness of our classmates’ struggles will become a greater part of our Jesuit brotherhood.

“My hopes are an increase in sensitivity among the student body to attend to their mental health,” Principal Wood said. “To watch out for one another and take care of their brothers who they see are struggling.”

Jesuit created the mental wellness program in order to respond to the needs of all students. The school hopes that students will receive the help they need and practice living a mentally healthy life.