Wantagh High School Students Lead Mental Health Awareness Campaign on P.S. I Love You Day

Students at Wantagh High School transformed their campus into a beacon of positivity on Feb. 13, organizing the school’s fourth annual P.S. I Love You Day to promote mental health awareness and erase stigma around seeking help.

Members of Morgan’s Message, the school’s mental well-being club, stationed themselves in the lobby throughout the day to engage peers in conversations about the national initiative dedicated to eradicating mental health stigma, according to club adviser Valerie Gompers. This year’s theme was “Be the Light,” symbolized by a large lighthouse poster displayed at their information table.

The day-long event required extensive preparation, with about 50 club members spending the afternoon of Feb. 12 decorating the school so students would “immediately feel the love” when they arrived the next morning, Gompers said. Club members greeted students at their lobby table before the first bell rang, sparking conversations about mental health resources and support.

Morgan’s Message ambassador Addison Gottlieb said the extensive planning represented a team effort involving multiple clubs and academic departments. The club wrote kind messages on purple paper hearts that were hung throughout the school’s halls, creating visual reminders of the day’s positive message.

The P.E. Leaders club spearheaded the creation of kindness chains by providing students with paper strips during physical education classes to write positive messages. Those strips were then linked together to form chains displayed around the school. Students in health education classes contributed by writing uplifting messages on coffee cup sleeves.

Culinary arts classes joined the effort by baking purple cookies, which club members distributed to any student or staff member who signed their name to a purple banner at the lobby table. The cookies served as both treats and conversation starters about mental health awareness.

A new addition this year was the Pin for a Purpose initiative. Each teacher received a clothespin with a kind message to clip to a student, who would then pass it forward to someone else, creating a chain of kindness throughout the day.

Gottlieb said all the activities aimed to raise awareness about mental health, remind students they are never alone, and empower them to access available resources when needed. The visual elements included purple hearts, chains and cookies, but the meaningful conversations among students created the most significant impact, according to the organizers.

The collaborative effort involved support from culinary arts teachers Marie Gonias and Jenna Messina, P.E. Leaders advisers Marisa Caccese and Deb DiBiase, and Health and Wellness Club adviser Jaclyn Stevens. Planning for the annual event began in November, demonstrating the commitment required to coordinate the school-wide initiative.

The Wantagh Middle School chapter of Morgan’s Message also participated by hosting similar activities for students in grades 6-8, extending the positive message throughout the district’s educational community.

The event represents Wantagh High School’s ongoing commitment to addressing mental health awareness among teenagers, using peer-to-peer engagement and creative visual displays to normalize conversations about emotional well-being and available support systems.