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BREADCRUMB

BEING NICE

May 16, 2020

Student-led campaign to address teen mental health did not stop when the Notre Dame campus closed.

Isabella Slifko, a Notre Dame Prep junior, is a co-chair of the school's Be Nice program. She and the program's student members have been communicating and strategizing throughout the state's stay-at-home period.


When a number of Notre Dame faculty and staff in early 2020 attended a MHSAA-sponsored student mental health summit, they learned more about a state-wide initiative called Be Nice, a program founded in 2016 by the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan.

Jason Whalen, a counselor for Notre Dame Prep, said he and the others from NDPMA were immediately impressed.

"The Be Nice program seemed to have it all. It provided a comprehensive curriculum; was proactive in nature; it was student-led; and had already seen tremendous success at a number of schools and districts on the west side of the state," Whalen said. "With the help of a grant from the Mental Illness Research Association, we were able to get on board with the program."

Assistant Athletic Director Maureen Radulski, who also attended the MHSAA summit, said Be Nice became an immediate priority for the school.

"Our goal is to promote a positive school environment and encourage good mental health by teaching students to 'Notice, Invite, Challenge and Empower' (NICE)," she said. "While it's a proactive bullying-prevention initiative, it goes far beyond that, seeking to educate students on the impact their words and actions have on the way others think, act and feel."

Once the faculty team received the green light from school administration to roll the program out, they put together an expanded faculty/staff leadership team that included Denise Mahoney and Whalen from the counseling department, Cathy Zuccaro and Della Lawrence from campus ministry, Radulski from athletics, Nick Kator from school administration, and Carolyn Tuski as a teacher representative. 

They then held a student-recruitment meeting hoping to get a decent-sized group of students to show up. 

"We thought that maybe 10 to 15 students would show up, but more than 30 students came to that meeting, which was amazing," Whalen said. "Their passion for the subject of mental health and their desire to have an impact on school culture was immediately felt. Our faculty team was truly blown away by the response."

The Be Nice program was founded a couple of years ago by the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan.


Eventually all of the students who came to that initial meeting, and a few who joined afterward, were put into subcommittees, including school activities, community awareness, social media, and swag (promotions). Plus, two co-chairs were named: Jacob Anderson and Bella Slifko, both current juniors.

"I personally wanted to be one of the co-chairs because I had already been working for a while to start a mental health awareness campaign at NDP," Slifko said. "I attended the MASC/MAHS Statewide Mental Health Awareness Conference with four of my classmates earlier this school year where we learned more about the Be Nice program."

Slifko said that after the conference, her classmates, counselors, and administrators knew right away this program was the one for NDP. 

"I believe the idea of spreading awareness and sharing our various stories was very appealing," she said. "It is important for students to recognize all emotions are good emotions and sometimes it is okay not to be okay."

Slifko and other students on the committee have been working on Be Nice throughout the entire at-home experience. They are meeting as a team via Zoom and engaging with other schools in Be Nice programs. In fact, two weeks ago, Elena Schwegman and Slifko were invited to a Zoom call with students from U-D Jesuit. They discussed several topics about mental health and its importance within their own lives and they created a video, which was posted on the group's social media page. 

"Our Instagram page, @benicendp, has been very active during this pandemic," Slifko said. "I am proud to say that the chairs of our four committees put together another video explaining our Be Nice action plan and we're trying our very best to reach out while at home. But we really miss everyone so much."

Whalen noted that the pandemic and the subsequent quarantine has magnified the need for the Be Nice initiative. 

"To put it bluntly, people, including some students, are struggling," he said. "The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) says that 17 percent of youth from 6 to 17 years old experience a mental health disorder and only 51 percent of young people with a mental health condition receive treatment in any given year. That data is obviously pre-quarantine. When you add concerns over loved ones becoming ill, the constant pandemic news cycle, the loss of traditional milestones that come during high school years, as well as social aspects and family economics, we have got to do a better job of looking after each other."

Fortunately, he said, the NDP student team recognizes that and over the course of the past few weeks has begun to rethink how they can move the Be Nice initiative forward despite the quarantine. 

"Our student leaders are working on those plans on a weekly basis and there will be more coming from this group in the near future."

Slifko adds that the Be Nice campaign ensures that teens at NDP know they have several shoulders to lean on and people to talk to. 

"Often, it can be difficult for teens to speak up to adults," she said. "The Be Nice program is primarily student-run, which allows teens to open up to others and share their stories. Be Nice is important during this pandemic as well. For some, school is their safe place. Sometimes all it takes is knowing that there will always be support whether at home or in the classroom."

For more information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Comments or questions on this story? mkelly@ndpma.org

Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.

About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three school are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.