Eatontown Girl Scouts Present Cadette Level Silver Award Project

On May 30, as part of their Cadette Level Silver Award Project, three Eatontown Girl Scouts from Troop 491 addressed the 5th and 6th grade classes at Margaret L. Vetter School on the topic of Emotional and Mental Health Awareness. The Scouts were Victoria Santos, Samantha Petz, Chelsea Seaman and their Troop Leader, Alcina Santos. All are students at Eatontown’s Memorial School. All three scouts shared their experiences on dealing with issues surrounding emotional and mental health awareness.

Victoria talked about a time she had a panic attack in middle school and how she used a technique called Box Breathing to calm herself. She modeled breathing in for 4 seconds, holding the breath for 4 seconds, and breathing out for 8 seconds. She also talked about coping strategies for stress like listening to music, texting with friends, going for a walk and playing a sport you enjoy.

Samantha talked about a time when her confidence was low and how she uses journaling to get out her good and bad feelings. She has sections in her journal where she writes funny moments, quirky quotes, etc. On bad days she looks back at quirky quotes or funny moments she wrote in her journal. The happy, silly memories help her feel better. She also talked about coloring and painting as an outlet for stress relief.

Chelsea talked about how she is usually positive minded and happy but when she’s not feeling upbeat, she reads uplifting quotes or practices saying positive affirmations to herself. She showed students how she keeps the quotes and affirmations in the Notes app on her phone. One of her favorite affirmations is “I Am Strong, I Am Amazing, I Am Kind, I Can Do This”.

Several students asked questions including one which wanted to know “how do your emotions affect your health”? Chelsea answered “negative emotions can make you feel down and tired. Your energy is low. You don’t want to spiral down and stay feeling bad. But positive emotions bring your spirits up and you feel more energy.

The students also heard from yoga instructor Liz Lawrence who teaches yoga at Blue Moon Yoga studio in Shrewsbury as well as at Brookdale Community College. Ms. Lawrence had the students practice a relaxation breathing technique. A podcast was played for the students called Everyday Positivity. The episode they listened to is called Love Your Emotions. The podcast talks about accepting our emotions, since they are real & present in everyone’s life. The Girl Scouts in Troop 491 hope that the techniques they shared can help others get through a difficult time. They also want students to remember that they are not alone.

Vetter School Principal Tara Micciulla noted that “The assembly presented by the Girl Scouts was a valuable learning experience for the students at Vetter School. It was empowering to see young women give back to their school system by opening a healthy dialogue about mental health. They taught the students how to recognize their feelings, ways to take charge of their own mental health, and how to use online resources to support their journey to wellbeing”.