Lakewood High School held its second Morgan’s Message meeting on Jan. 13. Morgan’s Message is a nonprofit organization aiming to raise awareness and provide support for mental health struggles within the student-athlete community.
Lakewood has recently adopted and started its own chapter, led by senior Vashti Arrow and advised by Lynn Patton, a Lakewood teacher.
Patton said she was inspired to assist after Arrow approached her with the idea.
“Her commitment to educating and supporting students and student-athletes was inspiring, and it motivated me to support the club and help create a space where these important conversations can happen,” Patton said.
Patton supports the club and wants to help it grow.
“My role is to support her and the club in any way I can—whether that’s helping with promotion, providing resources, or encouraging staff and students to get involved,” Patton said.
Morgan’s Message aims to foster unity by bringing together athletes and providing an open, supportive, and welcoming environment for all. Especially seeing the current stigmas about mental health that happen today. This mission is personal for Patton.
“I lost someone three years ago during their junior year of high school, which made me deeply aware of the need to remove stigmas around mental health,” she said. “It’s incredibly important to me that students know they have support, that they are not alone, and that it’s okay to ask for help.”
Arrow was motivated to start the Lakewood chapter after attending a Baldwin Wallace Women’s Lacrosse game that dedicated itself to Morgan’s message.
“I went to this Baldwin Wallace Lacrosse game, and they had Morgan’s Message going on,” Arrow said. “I did a little bit of research on what Morgan’s message was, and I think it was a good idea to bring it to our school, because I know some of my friends or some of my peers struggle with mental health and cannot talk to others.”
While the group is still in the early stages of growth, it is slowly but steadily retaining and even gaining members. The spread of information about the group is typically through social media. Via their Instagram, but they hope to expand the group and its awareness in more ways in the future.
While the group is in its early stages, it is steadily gaining members. Currently, the chapter relies primarily on Instagram for outreach, but Arrow plans to expand its presence through “dedication games” and information tables at athletic events.
“Our athletes will create posters, be at our information table during games, and that will be yet to come,” Arrow said.
The group’s strategy is to provide a judgment-free, stress-free environment where athletes can find common ground.
“It’s being able to eliminate the stigma around mental health, to be able to uplift other athletes,” Arrow said. “And I think the overview is just being able to have conversations with people that understand what you’re going through.”
Lyla Parkison, a teammate of Arrow’s and an ambassador for the group, was moved by the mission.
“What brought me to today’s meeting was mainly Vashti, but also because she mentioned this club to me a while back and had asked me to join it with her and be an ambassador,” Parkison said. “She told me the message behind it, and I thought it was really inspiring to support.”
This is a battle not easily fought, and Parkison believes more people should come and be part of this community.
“I think it’s really important to show more awareness of it, because a lot of people do struggle with it, and I don’t think it’s known enough,” she said.
When asked if she wants more students to attend, Parkison’s response was an immediate “Yes.” The group hopes to continue growing as a community for anyone seeking help, reminding students that mental health is just as important as physical health.
