Indian Lake High School Key Club members are cultivating an outdoor project of hope to remind their fellow students that there is support for mental illness inside the walls of their school.
Just before the snowfall, ILHS Key Club members dug holes and planted 100 yellow tulip bulbs just outside the main entrance to the high school.
Key Club Adviser Jenifer Ignarski reached out to The Yellow Tulip Project for materials. The Yellow Tulip Project is a nationwide initiative aimed at smashing the stigma surrounding mental illness.
She said when the flowers bloom in the spring, the ILHS Hope Garden will serve as a reminder that mental illness is just as real as a physical illness or injury.
“Here at Indian Lake, we want to create a more accepting and understanding community for recognizing and dealing with mental illness.”
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five teenagers and young adults lives with a mental health condition, with half developing the condition by age 14 and 75 percent by age 24.
Furthermore, a new Ohio Department of Health study finds that five Ohioians die by suicide every day, and one youth dies by suicide every 33 hours.
ILHS Key Club members plan to have a ceremony and speaker in the spring once the yellow tulips bloom.