ELH Teen Panel Hits the Road Again!

Blasting stigma one life experience at a time.

Erika's Lighthouse Club's Teen Panel has been busy. In addition to the annual Walkathon, one of its most critical activities is presenting educational panels on depression to advisory and kinetic wellness classes in area middle and high schools. During these presentations, members of the panel read and react to real-life teen experiences, like dealing with depression at 13, getting over depression, what it's like to come back from the hospital, etc.

Recently, the Teen Club at New Trier High School, shared their thoughts with students at the following area schools:

• The 8th grade at Central School - Glencoe
• The Upper School at North Shore Country Day School - Winnetka
• All sophomore health classes at Glenbrook South High School - Glenview
• Graduate social work students at Loyola University - Chicago
• Graduate education students at Northwestern University - Evanston
• The freshman class of Loyola Academy - Wilmette

In every case, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Unlike the adult training sessions, the teen panel format - "teens talking to teens" is very informal and provides a safe environment in which to bring out often highly-charged issues. Timely and thought-provoking, these panels have been seen as some of the best ways to help a student self-identify a problem. For more information, contact Heather Steward, ELH Teen Coordinator.