Sources of Strength provides support for students at Arcata High and has for years, helping with mental health through peer leaders. Mark LoMuarry created the nationwide program in 1998 in response to youth suicides in his community. Arcata High School implemented Sources of Strength a few years ago.
LoMuarry, who taught Arcata staff members Meghan Watts and Shelley Stewart, designed the program to give students the resources they need. The program emphasizes the 8 strengths: mental health, physical health, spirituality, generosity, healthy activities, mentors, positive friends, and family support.
These values support students during hard times in their lives.
“It’s a tragic but lovely story, just about suicide in a community and trying to save people once they were already kind of in a desperate situation,” Sources of Strength Adult Advisor Shelley Stewart said. “You know, what if you went upstream before they fall into the river?”
As the program rises in the school’s zeitgeist, so does the culture of the program. Many students of Arcata High view the program as a great way to reach out to adults or other students.
“When I first got into it, I was pretty okay with myself and who I am, but having that community where everyone accepts everyone, and you go in there and everyone’s just friends, it kind of translated out into the real world, where I found it kind of easy to make friends with a lot of people if you just put yourself out there, if you’re kind, you’re nice, and you seem genuine. That got rid of all my social anxiety, ” Josiah Hernandez, a peer leader for Sources of Strength since 2024, said.
“The whole vibe of it is accepting and loving everyone, and they’ll just talk to you as if you’re a friend. It’s really easier to knock down those social barriers.”
Authenticity and acceptance are key values often disregarded in today’s modern world. There are things out of our control, and it is easy to feel isolated and alone.
“Sometimes you forget that you can really be yourself to find the best people around you. There’s a lot of insecurity and unknown, and that’s scary. There’s definitely a lack of empathy nowadays,” sophomore member Aviva Orlandi said. “Sources of Strength has really helped me see how much other people really do impact each other, like how your emotions and how you treat others matter.”
As adult advisor Meghan Watts explains it, Sources of Strength comes down to creating an environment in which everyone belongs.
Watts said, “Even if that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be best friends with every single person, but that you feel like when you show up here, that you have people that you can connect with.”
