For those of you who don’t know, there are messages in the girls’ bathrooms. These messages are affirmations for the women of Gibbons to be reminded of as they go about their day. The hope is that by repeatedly seeing these affirmations in the bathrooms day to day, they will become ingrained in the minds of girls. Even simply noticing them could have a lasting impact.

The affirmations in the bathrooms were a crucial puzzle piece in their mission. 

“The goal came from hoping to remind the women of Gibbons that that inner voice of maybe negative thoughts doesn’t have to be the only voice in their lives,” Ms. Ernenwein said.

Mrs. Ernenwein is the educator leader of the Women’s Empowerment Club. Their mission is clear and simple… 

“Through social, community, and informative engagements empower the women of Gibbons to be the best versions of themselves in a Catholic, caring, globally minded community,” Ernenwein said. 

The group meets often to participate in group activities as seemingly trivial as making friendship bracelets, to matters more serious, such as domestic violence. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so the club has recently focused on educating female students on how to prevent dangerous situations and how to deal with them.

“In particular, this is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and bringing attention to how we determine if a relationship is healthy or not [is what we are focusing on],” Ms. Ernenwein said. “What are the aspects of healthy and unhealthy relationships and how to potentially exit one that isn’t healthy. And we’re doing this also by supporting a group called ‘Interact’ which is a domestic violence shelter in Raleigh.”

As the holidays are quickly approaching, the club has also been teaching women about healthy eating habits.  

“A lot of times, women put themselves in a situation where they feel pressured,” Ernenwein described. “So just strategies to think about our bodies, how we think about eating, so that it empowers us to be better versions of ourselves.”

The Women’s Empowerment Club has worked wonders for the women at Cardinal Gibbons and invites you to join too.

Mental Health

Mental Health Club Student Leader, Sydney Kalish, often comes up with fun activities for members to participate in in addition to producing events to help and support Crusaders as well as the Triangle community. 

The club often teams up with other clubs and organizations to reach out to people, especially teens, with the hopes of opening their minds and hearts to new perspectives and ideas. 

The mind of a teenager is intricate. 

Teens are found to be more likely to have feelings of depression, anxiety, and other feelings as such since the brain is not entirely developed until the age of 25, and the environment of a teen can have a drastic impact on how well those feelings are managed. 

This club offers a warm and welcoming community for students alike to come together and find some peace. 

“The goal was to have a safe space for people,” said Kalish. “It was just kind of to do something fun once a month just to take the stress off your shoulders.”

As for the goal of messages in the women’s bathrooms, Kalish said, “September was Suicide Prevention Month, and we really wanted to do something positive and uplifting. And we kind of just wanted to share some messages.”

The mental health of teens, especially girls, is something that has become a concerning reality. Many young women struggle with mental health disorders and may not feel that they have an outlet for the built-up emotions. The Mental Health Club has worked to alleviate some of those feelings.

“A lot of girls… they’re having a really hard time. And they don’t want to tell anybody and they kind of feel alone,” Sydney explained. “I feel like having that extra little thing that just says you’re doing great or you’re an amazing person is just something that we wanted to help. There are still people who love you and want to support you.”

The Women’s Empowerment and Mental Health clubs collaborated with one goal in mind – reach the women at Gibbons and strengthen their minds.