Hope Garden takes root at Foxcroft Academy
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Next spring tulips will rise from a small garden next to the sidewalk on West Main Street, just a few steps away from Foxcroft Academy. While the yellow flowers will beautify the neighborhood, they will have a larger purpose: to raise awareness about suicide and mental illness.
The Hope Garden, planted by Foxcroft Academy students, is part of the Yellow Tulip Project, a national initiative founded to smash the stigma surrounding mental illness. The garden is managed by the school’s Positive Action Team, a group of students that provides tools and support to address mental health, substance use, overall wellbeing, and other concerns that are important in the school.
More than 50 students came out on a recent morning to prepare the garden, plant the tulip bulbs, and enjoy hot chocolate. For Gwen Atwater, a Foxcroft Academy sophomore and Positive Action Team member, the Hope Garden is an opportunity to bring the discussion about mental health and suicide to the forefront.
HOPE GARDEN — Foxcroft Academy sophomore Gwen Atwater plants at the Hope Garden by the West Main Street sidewalk next to campus. The garden is part of the Yellow Tulip Project, which works to smash the stigma surrounding mental illness.
“I think that a lot of people who struggle with mental health don’t feel comfortable sharing it, and when they do, they may not feel accepted. The Yellow Tulip Project is a good way to share light and hope with people who may feel like they are stumbling around in darkness,” she says.
The Yellow Tulip Project was founded by Julia Hansen, a student who lost her two best friends to suicide at the age of 15, and her mother Suzanne Fox. Hansen chose a yellow tulip because the flower represents happiness and hope. The youth-driven movement has expanded to communities across the country since it began in 2016.
Youth mental health concerns are on the rise nationally and are an issue close to home. In the 2021 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey, nearly 17 percent of high schoolers in Piscataquis County reported that they had seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months. More than 31 percent described their mental health as being “not good” in the past 30 days.
Casey Genthner, PPS, Community Health coordinator at Northern Light Mayo Hospital, hopes that the garden will remind students that during dark, difficult times, brighter days are ahead.
“We want to highlight the garden as a place where students can go for hope. It represents suicide awareness and overall mental wellbeing. It lets people know that it’s okay not to be okay. These kids will have a place where they can look at beautiful flowers and just take a moment,” says Genthner.
Genthner and her colleagues at Mayo and CA Dean Hospitals support grant-funded Positive Action Teams at Foxcroft Academy, Dexter Regional High School, Ridge View Community School, Greenville Consolidated School, Piscataquis Community Secondary School, Penquis Valley High School, and SeDoMoCha Middle School.
The Foxcroft Academy Positive Action Team, now in its second year, continues to grow to involve more students. A self-described optimist, Atwater and the team are working to plan several activities focused on spreading positivity and raising awareness about mental health and wellness.
“One of my favorite activities is kindness confetti. We print out inspirational quotes and stick them all over the school. I really like doing that,” she says.
Atwater looks forward to seeing the tulips bloom for the whole school and community to enjoy. She’s proud of the work that the Positive Action Team is doing and happy that so many of her peers that are not on the team helped with planting the bulbs.
“It actually feels really awesome to plant these today, because when we started this morning, it was just the Positive Action Team. Then, a ton of people from school came. It was really fulfilling,” she says.