Walking into the room, there are friendly and smiling faces throughout Hope Squad. Among them is Kristen Adam.
Hope Squad is a club that advocates for mental health awareness and positive well-being. Adam is one of the main leaders of Hope Squad.
She helps plan the events, club lessons, and fundraisers for the club. Adam even made the club’s t-shirts for this year’s purple-out football game.
“She’s such a sweet person,” Hope Squad co-leader Hailey Ruscheinsky. “Even in Hope Squad, she makes it such a welcoming place for everyone.”
Adam does her best to create a safe environment for everyone, whether they are in the club or not. Her goal for Hope Squad, and in general, is to make school the place you feel at home.
It is important to keep the school environment a place where everyone feels safe and comfortable. Adam manages to achieve this goal by projecting her caring personality to everyone she meets.
“She’s an inspiring person whose leadership role reflects her personality,” Kristen’s sister Natalie Adam said. “Her position in Hope Squad really shows how much she cares about and values others and their well-beings.”
Kristen’s passion for Hope Squad helps the club run smoothly and successfully. She thinks it’s important that everyone has differences, so people can be themselves without judgment.
Spreading awareness about mental health is one way to create normalcy and a comfortable space in school.
“Mental health isn’t even okay versus not okay,” Kristen said. “Mental health could just be like feeling down, and like ‘I just need a little extra love.’”
Everyone experiences some form of negative emotion, but there are ways to regulate it. Hope Squad aims to create a family of strong-minded individuals who can help others and spread awareness about mental health.
“Hope Squad is a great place to be able to express all of your emotions and have it be recognized by everyone,” Kristen said.
