U-Matter has begun this week, kicking off with its new theme of “Breaking the Silence”. Monday began spirit week with the U-Matter Committees asking students to wear yellow or purple in support of “Breaking the Silence”. The dress up days continue with students wearing red on Tuesday in support of addiction awareness, white on Wednesday to white out the darkness, blue on Thursday for anxiety awareness, and green on Friday for mental health awareness. 

On Wednesday there was a virtual special event for students to attend: an Among Us zoom call! In the zoom call, students were put into breakout rooms to play rounds of the popular phone video game Among Us.

“I’m glad that we were able to hold an event for students this week,” U-Matter Committee Co-Chair Audrey Gunawan commented. “It’s super important to have things that students can attend and experience like we would normally have during U-Matter Week.”

This year the U-Matter Committees are also holding the annual essay and mixed media contests. These give students the opportunity to discuss mental health in their own creative ways. The first place winners for the essay and mixed media contest will be given a $100 gift card (courtesy of the Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition) and a U-Matter t-shirt. Runners up for each category will receive a $25 gift card (courtesy of the Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition). If you would like to enter the contest, fill out the Google Form here.

Another returning event for U-Matter are the staff and student TED Talks. Those that chose to participate will make a 5 minute TED Talk about anything mental health related. This year, instead of holding the TED Talks in the auditorium, the speeches will be posted on the Student Leadership YouTube. The links to the TED Talks will be emailed to students and staff members on Thursday, December 19th. 

Something special to U-Matter this year is a speech from Aric Jackson. Aric is a motivational speaker based in California whose mission is to teach and encourage students to pursue their dreams. Students from WBHS will be able to watch a recorded speech that is personalized for students at WB. The speech will be shown via Zoom webinar on Tuesday, December 15th at 2pm. Students and staff will receive an email with the link to the Zoom webinar in the coming days. 

More information about U-Matter week can be found here and on the Student Leadership Twitter @WBHSLeadership.