Maia Petersen, a Grade 10 student at Crescent Heights High School, came up with the idea for a mental health carnival that will be taking place Thursday from 4-8 p.m. Everyone is invited.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
reporter@medicinehatnews.com
A student led youth mental health carnival will run Thursday at Crescent Heights High School.
“It is a fundraising event and all the profits are going to Youth Mental Health Canada,” said Maia Petersen, the student who came up with the idea. “We aren’t keeping any of it, it’s completely volunteer run and there will be live music from youth bands from our school, food trucks and games donated to us by the library.”
There will be three bands playing – Robbie Milner, The Cruisers and Protohumn – giant Yahtzee, plinko, trivia games, spinning wheels and much more. No admission fees are being charged but there will be a donation box at the entrance. The food trucks are donating a portion of their proceeds and there will also be a silent auction to help raise funds.
“We’ve had some tragedies at the school this year,” said Petersen. “And I realized it might be a topic we have to bring a little bit more attention to. I wanted to originally do a bunch of little fundraisers but realized it would be easier to do one big event and get everyone from the community here.
“It’s not just a school event, anyone can stop by and bring their kids. Come and donate and have a good time.”
Petersen refers to herself as a dreamer and explained that a couple of teachers and her friends have helped turn her idea into a reality.
She describes herself as a science person who also plays provincial and local softball, is secretary of the Kiwanis Key Club and on student council. Petersen is interested sports medicine as a post-secondary career path.
“I’ve always loved sports and I’m very interested with anatomy, so I decided to put the two together.”
The carnival is being held in the field beside the track at Crescent Heights School on Thursday, from 4-8 p.m. For more information, email Maia.communitycontact@gmail.com.
