Club sponsors are essential in making OMM clubs possible. All OMM clubs have at least one club sponsor, such as a trained psychologist, social worker, counselor, or teacher with mental health training. They help guide club planning efforts, assist in school-wide campaigns, and connect students to mental health resources. Most importantly, they are trusted adults with whom teens can build connections that can positively impact physical, mental, and social outcomes! 

Skyy Bollers, a Key Minds Matter (KMM) sponsor at Key Middle School in Springfield, Virginia, is a testament to a teacher’s profound impact on teen lives.

Bollers, a Health and Physical Education teacher, works to center student voices and ideas to remind students that they are not alone. She said she heard about OMM’s partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools at a department chairs meeting. 

“When I heard about OMM, I was like, ‘We don’t have anything like that at our school,’” she said.

Bollers saw this as an opportunity to provide students with additional mental health support and a teen-centered space to share their experiences. 

“I just look for ways to connect with students where they may not have had someone else to connect with them,” she said.

Bollers showed her commitment to connecting with her students this past March during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (from February 28 to March 29). The month is a time for spiritual reflection, prayer, and community. Muslims can fast from before dawn to sunset as an act of worship and to encourage spiritual growth. Bollers observed the holiday for a week in solidarity with students. She asked them about their prayers, intentions, and the personal significance the month holds for them. Such conversations can build social connectedness and encourage students to seek help from trusted adults.

“Getting up and having to pray and being able to connect with students around that was like a bigger purpose,” she said.

The club is made up of seventh and eighth-graders and offers two meeting times to accommodate students’ schedules. Students who can’t make it after school can join a lunchtime meeting and skip the lunch line using a custom pass that Bollers created. Lunchtime sessions start with an opening connection — usually Smoke, Spark, Fire (available on our Club Portal😉). 

• Smoke – something that has been clouding your mind recently

• Spark – something that you’ve recently become interested in

• Fire – something that you’ve enjoyed for a long time

Next, sponsors review meeting guiding principles — ground rules like respecting peers’ experiences — to establish a safe space. Since lunch periods are short, Bollers encourages students to share and speak freely about their daily lives rather than always engaging in a formal club activity.

Bollers said she wants students to focus on what’s in their sphere of control when problem-solving everyday issues. She also asks them what they are doing to maintain their mental health.

“You don’t wait until something is going horribly wrong to try to manage it,” she said. “You don’t wait until the end of the quarter to try to do all your homework.”

Bollers said she hopes Key Middle School students learn that prioritizing their mental health is okay and necessary. She mentioned that it’s just as important as exercise, nutrition, proper sleep, and other wellness habits.

“I want them to understand that it has to be intentional that they are doing what they can to take care of themselves,” Bollers said.

Bollers also wants students to remember that there are people who care for them and encourages club members to advocate for themselves.

“If you don’t have the right people around you, or you haven’t built that trust, you feel like you’re in a silo, [that] you’re by yourself,” Bollers said. “I don’t want my students to think they’re alone.”

To better understand students’ needs, Bollers hopes to have a morning check-in table in the fourth quarter of the school year. Students can stop by, learn about the club, and drop a colored bead based on a specific topic they would like to discuss (ex, time management, relationships with parents/guardians). Bollers said building relationships with club leaders and members gives her insight into what Key students need most. This practice allows youth to take the lead in their mental health support.

“They’re on the ground with other students,” she said. “Key [Middle School] looks different to an eighth grader than it does to a teacher. We’re not really in their bubble with them.”

As Key Minds Matter (KMM) finishes its first year with OMM, Bollers’ relationship with her students is a key part of the club’s success. Thank you to Skyy Bollers and KMM for creating a space for Key students to learn and grow. 

We are so grateful to the 254 OMM club sponsors for their dedication to building relationships with youth and helping save lives.💙 This work is not possible without you.

A special thank you to the County of Fairfax, the Immanuel Presbyterian Special Projects Endowment, the McLean Community Foundation, and our network of individual donors for making Our Minds Matter possible in Fairfax County Public Schools!