Lake City High School student wins mental health awareness award
Deanne Clifford, Luke Sharon and Azure Wilson pose as Sharon accepts his award from Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in the library at Lake City High School. Concerned with student struggles, Sharon brought in Olympic medalist Michael Phelps to speak to students about mental health issues.
CAROLYN BOSTICK/Press
COEUR d'ALENE — In the ongoing effort to destigmatize mental health struggles, local students are emerging as passionate advocates and leaders promoting awareness, prevention and support resources in their schools and communities.
Among those recently honored were Lake City High School siblings Luke and Emma Sharon, who have channeled their personal experiences with mental health crises into inspiring initiatives.
"Mental health tragedies have happened every single year at least for my class, whether that's just a student struggling or someone who ends up taking their own life," Luke Sharon said.
His efforts, like organizing a mental health day with speakers and erecting a banner spotlighting the 988 crisis line through a partnership with Kootenai Health, earned him the Mental Health Awareness Award. It recognized his goal of putting resources into the hands of students before they are having a full-on crisis.
His sister, Emma, has shared her lived experience with suicidal ideation through powerful presentations on what helped and what didn't help her at her darkest points.
"Mental health struggles can tear kids down and families, and we're proud they're working to make things better," said their mother, Melissa Sharon.
The Sharons were among several students from across North Idaho nominated by schools in the region's five counties for fostering resiliency. Raelynn Loken, a Coeur d'Alene School District mental health specialist, marveled at the inspiring stories.
"We were going to pick just one but as we read the stories, we decided to honor all of them," Loken said of the nominees, which included student leaders founding awareness clubs, aspiring mental health professionals, peer counselors and advocacy organizers.
Naomi Sporlender, Maddy Golden, Aiden Johnson, Nadia Gackstetter, Abigail Fitzgerald, Ava Dircksen, Emma Sharon and Carter Carpenter are the other nominees for the mental health award.
Mental health awareness color run
The Coeur d’Alene School District is currently raising funds to assist with mental health awareness by holding the Sources of Strength Color Run at Woodland Middle School from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 1.
For more information, visit https://www.cdaschools.org/colorrun.