The Aevidum club at Pine Grove Area High School was selected from among more than 300 groups nationwide for the organization’s Club of the Year Award.
It’s a tremendous honor, to say the least, for a club that began only two years ago and whose student body has faced significant challenges.
Aevidum, which translates to “I’ve got your back,” promotes mental health awareness in schools.
Pine Grove formed its club in 2021 after two high school boys took their lives within six weeks of each other.
“We put a lot of hard work and dedication into it since it started at Pine Grove,” said Katie Cook, one of the club’s advisers. “Since then, we’ve really taken off with it, doing different events, and we’ve trained other schools across the country.”
Co-adviser Jen Heming said the club — which has grown to about 150 members — is extremely active in the school and the community.
Members are involved in initiatives with several phases of the student body, including sports teams. The club advisers recently participated in the making of a video, called “To Save a Life,” produced by the Suicide Prevention Task Force of Schuylkill County.
Heming said the club receives support from administration and community members and is engaged on social media.
“Whenever we do an event or we get some type of donation from the community, we’ll post that, so that probably helped us win the award as well,” Heming said.
Aevidum was started in 2007 at Cocalico High School in Lancaster County and has since expanded to more than 300 clubs across the country.
Locally, the club was started by Minersville Area High School students and has spread to other Schuylkill County schools. Minersville Area won the national award for the 2021-22 school year.
The Pine Grove advisers said forming an Aevidum club was greatly beneficial for students and staff members, especially given the recent tragedy and other challenges during the pandemic.
“I think going through the loss of those two students really opened our eyes, and other people’s eyes, to how much some of our students are struggling,” Cook said. “You don’t really think about it or realize it when you’re teaching them, but when you kind of take a step back and look at it through the mental health aspect, you really see that they need help. And that’s our ultimate goal — to help students and have their back.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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