National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. This is a good month for me to launch, as my identity falls into several categories that would be considered a minority. Specifically, in Montessori, I have often been the minority. I have been so due to my race (Black), my experience (I did not experience Montessori before grad school), my experience (I have spent most of my career serving children in underresourced areas), and my style (I have strong beliefs, although I wasn't always great at keeping them "lightly held" as a friend and mentor has often said they should be. Those in the BIPOC community often have experiences that make us outliers, and thus, it affects our mental health.

Part of why I am diving into the work in this way now is because when I was forging my path in various roles and school settings, my mental health suffered because I had no one to guide and mentor me. Much, not all, but much of what I learned to do that has made me stand out over the years has come from my own push and conviction to learn in service of children. I am the first to admit that when I was a young Primary Guide in the early 2000's, I was not good at it. I didn't know how to put what I had learned into action. My class wasn't calm, the children weren't thriving and I was often feeling down and exhausted. I went through a bout of depression. I had panic attacks. I felt so broken. And I felt that way because I was doing really challenging work with no real support. I had moved far away from home for a position that I was really excited about and when it turned out that it was so tough, I wanted to shrink back into myself.

But as time went on, I did learn what I needed to do to be successful. I learned to settle the busiest bunch. I became known as the guide who could take on the children who were the least peaceful (I am sure you can read between the lines here). I learned to support children in learning to read in a way that no child who left my class did so without reading phonetically, and many read fluently. My children took care of animals and put on performances (yes, Primary children!-we did 'The Nutcracker' one year, and that was a HOOT with thirty 3-6 year olds!) I advocated for programming with district and state bodies so more children and more Montessori programs could thrive. I began to coach others in their practice. I ran programs. I built a school from the ground up. I ran a program with over 500 children and nearly 150 employees. I share this all because I took on all this work on my own, and doing so took a toll on my mental health at times, but I did it because I wanted others to have it better than I did.

This July, during National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, I am committed to both being cognizant of my own mental health needs and offering support to others who need support for themselves. Let's uplift those who need it. "With man, the life of the body depends on the life of the spirit." -Maria Montessori

Best,

Hannah