May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so Nicole Brunecz, the school’s social worker, put together a Spirit Week for students from May 5 to 9 to help celebrate mental health and teach students why their mental health is important. Each day’s theme included; football day to celebrate their favorite team, wear an item of clothing that makes you happy, switch up day where students dressed like teachers/staff and vice versa, wear green day — green is the international symbol for mental health awareness –, and school spirit day.

“I’m so thankful and fortunate that Panama Central School is so supportive of our student’s mental health,” Brunecz said.

Also during May the school has held other mental health awareness focused events, such as having Brad Barmore, inspirational speaker, run coach, personal trainer and published author, along with a previous CSP coach and teacher at Sherman, come to speak to the school’s UPK through fourth grade and fifth through 12th graders to provide inspiration regarding accountability, mental and physical health and integrity. Panama seniors Bryce Hinsdale, Kaitlyn Horton and Tate Catanese joined Bradmore on stage and spoke on teamwork, forgiveness, and determination.

Throughout the rest of May Panama will have some of their high school students visit elementary classrooms and read books on taking care of their mental health, and they also have “guess how many green items” at the office for students to win fidget tools. They also hope to take part in MentalHealthRocksChq, an initiative from Chautauqua County Behavioral Health Clinics, to paint rocks with inspirational messages and spread them around the community.

Members of the Panama Central School community gather at the flagpole with the Panama blue “Be Kind” heart, to be displayed at the main entrance of the school. Submitted photo

The final Friday of the Mental Health Spirit Week, Spirit Day, was a day students were encouraged to wear their Panama gear, including Panama Be Kind shirts, something that came from a second event for the day, spearheaded by Panama teacher Pamela Warner.

“It was sort of a spur of the moment idea because everyone every so often will wear these ‘Be Kind’ shirts to work,” Warner said. “One day we said it would be cool to get a Panama blue tie-dyed shirt for Panama school. We reached out to Triple E, and talked with administration, and advertised to the community, and it connected with the Mental Health Spirit Week to have everyone wear their shirts that day.”

The “Be Kind” shirts connect to the “Be Kind Ithaca” organization, founded by Darrell Harrington. Part of “Be Kind Ithaca” is the displaying of a large red heart with the “Be Kind” message on it. Warner said she had gone to school with Harrington’s wife and was able to get in contact with him to add to the “Be Kind” shirts, a blue and white heart to display on the school’s grounds.

“He was thrilled to be able to expand to us and that we could display it during the mental health week, so he made and sent it, and everyone wore their shirts and met at the flagpole,” Warner said. “We put the heart out on the grounds, to remind everyone that Panama is a kind place to be and to help spread kindness.”

The “Be Kind” message is something that Warner said Panama school as a whole has been trying to spread throughout the year through things like messages on the wall put up by an anonymously started Sunshine Squad, who have been putting up posters and messages around the school to help promote the kindness culture and raise morale in the school. Warner said people will continue to wear their Panama colored “Be Kind” shirts and the heart remains on display, keeping the message going throughout the rest of the school year.

Having worked at Panama for 24 years, Warner expressed that she loves her job and sees that Panama is a place of enjoyment for many. She hopes this “Be Kind” heart, message, and mental health awareness projects that all came together will continue to spread this message for anyone who comes onto school grounds.

“I hope when people walk into the building and they see the heart at the main entrance every day they are reminded that Panama is a positive and safe environment,” Warner said. “It is a cycle, teachers are kind to each other so the students are kind to each other, and then everyone is kind to each other. It’s a welcoming and positive environment and people here are kind hearted people. Now we have the connection of the shirts which make people smile. It was a cool day and I hope that people who see the heart will remember that day and pass on the ‘Be Kind’ message.”