It's Not Just In Our Heads

  • Made By CUP With:
  • Students
  • Tags:
  • Education,
  • Health

A booklet that explores how school resources impact student mental health.

Students interview school counselors, Ms. Ashley Zaharkis and Dr. Dianah Cantres.


From sudden school shutdowns to the pressures of social media, young people are dealing with a lot these days. As conversations about mental health become more common, there’s a growing sense that many of our personal struggles might not just be all in our heads. What’s mental health? What impacts our mental health? How can young people find support? How can we support others?

In the winter of 2020-2021, CUP collaborated with Teaching Artist Stephen Kwok and public high school students from Life Sciences Secondary School to investigate this issue. Students created art therapy activities, surveyed community members, and interviewed key stakeholders working on the issue.

The team gathered what they learned and created It’s Not Just in Our Heads, a booklet that teaches others about mental health, how it impacts our daily lives, and how to support others that might be struggling with their mental health. Students premiered their final project virtually through a public debut presentation, where they presented their booklet and shared their creative process.

Teaching Artist leads students in an exquisite corpse activity over Zoom.
Students turned hand drawn artwork into colorful digital images.

“My favorite part was the conversations because you get to hear stuff from other perspectives. Sometimes you kind of make this biased idea or you have this idea based on only your experience. So it’s good to hear where other people are coming from."

Azia Francis, Student

Check out the Project

The cover and spread from It's Not Just In our Heads.

Student Presentation

Watch a video of the students creative process!

Project Collaborators

Educational Partner

Life Sciences Secondary School

Kim Swanson, Principal
Cecilia Gual, Principal


Teaching Artist

Stephen Kwok


Students

Sabina Aktar, Rosemarie Alubankudi, Gabriella Chavez, Bisma Ejaz, Nishat Fiza, Azia Francis, Nadia Islam, Alaa Mady, Ayah Mady, Naomi Maldonado, Ada Johnsen-DeWeese, X-Zavion Rivera

Special Thanks

Dr. Dianah Cantres, Nicole Hamilton, Parker Johnson, June Song, Elijah Thomas, Linda Tigani, Dr. Wenimo Okoya, Ashley Zaharakis

Product Details

9.75″ × 7.5″ stapled booklet, 16 pages

Funding Support

Major Support for this program was provided by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Ben Kallos.