By Michael Lovaglio
Last April, students from various Mercer County schools met to listen, read and annotate Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech on the 56th anniversary of its delivery.
A student raised their hand with tears in their eyes and asked if King knew he would die the next day. King’s confession that he would like to “live a long life,” as well as his brave and resolute decision to see beyond his desire for “longevity,” spurred the student’s tears. It’s the experience of relating with King that caused their emotional response, and it’s a story that continues, decades later, to evoke a strong response.
The use of storytelling as both balm and scaffolding is fundamental to wellness. From Anime to Taylor Swift, we are drawn to personalities and stories, in part, because they teach us something about ourselves.
Real-life stories build connections with emotions
My experience teaching English in both high school and college classrooms served as preparation for leading the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services (NJ4S) hub for Mercer County, where my team and I are tasked with providing mental wellness and prevention programming. Services range from public workshops on building and maintaining healthy relationships to brief, clinical interventions for individuals in crisis. Evidence-based models are used to promote mental wellness and to connect students and their families to community resources.
Often, real-life stories are utilized to help students connect with their emotions and the larger human experience.
This model of support aligns with prevention education practices, builds resilience and teaches coping mechanisms. Using the prevention education model as a guide, the NJ4S Mercer Hub offers accounts of empathy, perseverance, and resilience, stories that encourage compassion, kindness and a sense of efficacy.
Programs to meet community needs
NJ4S hubs throughout the state are crafting their programming to fit the needs and interests of the communities they serve. Colleagues in North Jersey are helping students address the social anxiety that comes with starting middle school. NJ4S hubs in South Jersey throw “prevention picnics” to make substance use prevention resources more visible in their towns. In Mercer County, we’ve embraced the power of storytelling.
My team had the privilege of shepherding students as they shared their testimonies in personal essays and articles this past year. The crafting of personal stories harnesses strength and vulnerability and molds it into resilience.
Take the following confession from a recent graduate of Princeton High School: “Recently, a teacher told me empathy is a superpower I possess. He’s not the first to share that sentiment. People tend to say I’m caring and kind. Little do they know, being empathetic is how I cope.”
Fusing prevention education with storytelling and working in collaboration with schools, townships and community leaders is an effective means of serving students. It is not a singular solution, but a piece of a larger effort as we all navigate the ongoing mental health crisis in the State of New Jersey.
Powerful storytelling leaves a mark—when used effectively, it can strengthen students’ mental well-being.
Michael Lovaglio is the hub director for the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services (NJ4S) hub in Mercer County. NJ4S is a program equipped to deliver prevention education programming that suits the needs of the community using evidence-based curriculum in eligible schools throughout New Jersey. Working closely with schools, after-school programs, summer camps, and other community-based providers, NJ4S hubs across the state are dedicated to providing mental wellness services to students and families so they have the resources needed to succeed and grow. Learn more at nj4s.nj.gov.
For more information on NJ4S in Mercer County, email Lovaglio at MLovaglio@cctrenton.org.