Four of the student ambassadors at Great Bend High School attended Wednesday’s school board meeting and talked about what this group has been doing.

Delaina Strickland said the students got to decide where they should focus their efforts and they saw a need for better mental health. To share information, they organized a health fair.

“We chose four things to focus on,” said student Marissa Boone. “It was an epic fail the first time.” However, she said they learned from their mistakes and held three more events, learning more each time.

The last one was the best. There were four stations set up in the gym: yoga, journaling and gratitude, healthy foods, and suicide prevention. Ailey Scothorn said she was the student in charge of the yoga station. Participants did some stretching and she talked about breathing exercises.

There were also handouts, and students were made aware of the suicide and crisis lifeline, 988.

Jimena Montez, the final student ambassador to speak Wednesday, said they learned from experience that their programs need to be more interactive. 

They plan to have one last health fair in April and this time they hope to get more teachers involved.

“We can’t wait to share with our peers,” Strickland said.

Principal Brock Funke said there are 63 student ambassadors. There’s an application process and students can apply after their freshman year.