The transition from winter to spring can be filled with anticipation for something new and uplifting. It can be a great chance for students to reflect and prepare for the final stretch of the school year.

On February 25, Ida B. Wells Minds Matter (IMM) at Ida B. Wells Middle School in Washington, D.C., hosted a Because You Matter booth during their lunch periods to uplift and motivate their students. Seventh-grade club members welcomed their peers to write words of encouragement on hand-shaped cutouts, creating a custom spin on one of our signature campaigns.😉

Erin Weiss, a school-based mental health therapist from Latin American Youth Center and an IMM club sponsor, said the club encourages students to collaborate with and practice uplifting one another. Because You Matter (BYM) invites students to share and display kind messages to peers on a school bulletin board. With the recent events that have impacted the school community, reaching out is more important now than ever. Hosting BYM allows students to build social connectedness. 

“It’s definitely a challenging time,” Weiss said.

Ida B. Wells Minds Matter joined the Our Minds Matter network in Spring 2024 and is split into two groups. Sixth-grade club members tend to participate in hands-on activities and focus on social-emotional learning. Seventh and eighth graders practice leadership skills and brainstorm club activities.

IMM’s booth was further decorated with BYM self worth cards. BYM messages were posted around their student-made slogan “Talk it Out, Reach Out, It’s Ok Not To Be Ok.”

Weiss said the club also creates opportunities for students to practice leadership and organization. With support from club sponsors, IMM students practice tasks like reaching out to others, getting necessary resources, and sending communications to the entire school. 

“They are definitely visionaries,” she said. “And many of them haven’t had to use these skillsets yet. We’re hoping by May, they can take over.”

As the weather gets warmer, Ida B. Wells Minds Matter has already begun brainstorming for spring. One of their upcoming campaign ideas would be inspired by March Madness. Students will gather to shoot negative thoughts away into the trash.🏀

“We want to remind students that they matter, they belong here, that they’re important to us,” Weiss said.

Thank you to Ida B. Wells Minds Matter sponsors and student leaders for sharing their creativity, fun, and care with their community and ours!🤗

A special thank you for supporting Our Minds Matter in DC Public Schools goes to the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), if: a Foundation for Radical Possibility, Risa Fund — and our network of individual donors and mental health champions like you.🧡