Originating as a club, SCHS recently began offering a new elective for the 2022-2023 school year, Peer Helpers. The goal of Peer Helpers is to support students in discussing mental health by building safe relationships.

After gaining inspiration from a colleague that had initiated a Peer Helpers program at Half Moon Bay High School, social science teacher Pilar Svendsen was able to explore the program, sparking her passion to start it at SCHS.

“I was really inspired by that (Half Moon Bay’s Peer Helpers program), and when I came to Santa Clara, I always had it in the back of my head that I wanted to start a Peer Helpers program here,” Svendsen said.

The process of transferring the Peer Helpers program to SCHS began in 2019 when Svendsen pitched the idea to the department chairs, later receiving approval from the school and school board. Due to distance learning during the 2020-2021 school year, it was difficult to receive interest from students, but after merging with Bring Change to Mind club, which advocated for youth mental health, Peer Helpers started a foundation for their program.

In the class, students develop communication, leadership and teamwork skills from the peer training materials, such as textbooks and outside sources.

“The Peer Power workbooks are what I use to springboard the material, but I supplement with a lot of material from community organizations and foundations that are with mental health and mind,” Svendsen said.

Alongside the curriculum, Svendsen is leading both the class and club to continue advocating for social change and positive mental health for students.

“I really want to empower students to empower each other, and so ways I want to do that is to find more opportunities for students to teach and help each other, whether that’s during Tutorial, creating bulletin boards, things that can empower students, encourage students and creating forums for students to have a voice and a safe space on campus,” Svendsen said. “That’s really important to me.”

The class dynamic also emphasizes building a community where students can feel safe talking to each other. Senior Zaya Coronado depicted the opportunities given to students, such as self-care practice, which help create a comfortable environment for the student and those around them.

“I used to really struggle with communicating. I used to have a hard time saying how things affected me,” Coronado said. “The skills that I’ve learned in that class have really taught me how to get other people to understand how I’m feeling and what I need from them.”

Alongside Coronado, senior Lindsay Patterson believes the class to be helpful in communicating with her peers and noted that the skills offered in the class have supported her personally in stressful situations.

“When I get into an argument, I don’t act out like I normally would have,” Patterson said. “I kind of learned how to calm myself down, and I know how to control my emotions better.”

Svendsen expressed her insight toward approaching issues regarding mental health.

“I think mental health is everybody – everybody has mental health – and I think it’s a lifelong practice to have strong mental health and to continue to work at it,” Svendsen said.”

By encouraging students to form relationships with one another and attempt to become a positive influence, Svenson ultimately strives to connect the class’s curriculum and potential to the student’s well-being.

“This is a class that can impact every single student on campus, and I know I can’t reach every student on campus, but I want to empower our youth and people in the class to help reach others,” Svendsen said.