Katelyn's Senior Project

MY STORY:
Hello Everyone! My name is Katelyn Kolyer and I am a senior at Spectrum High School. For my senior project I am fundraising money for the Thumbs Up High 5k nonprofit. A few years ago, my mom and I attended one of their community outreach events and afterward we had a conversation about mental health that I will never forget. It opened a door up in our relationship, so that I could be open and honest about my own struggles with mental health. After that night, I knew that I wanted to support this nonprofit for my senior project.

In January, I am joining the Thumbs Up High 5k planning committee to put on a spring outreach event for teens. At this event, there will be a speaker as well as local mental health resources for the community. This is the same type of event my mom and I attended a few years ago and I could not be more excited to join forces with Katie Shatusky to open up more conversations about mental health!

About ThumbsUpHigh5K:

THUMBS UP was founded in 2014 by Katie Shatusky, Jessica Hackenmueller and Jody Kreuser in honor of two great men, Robert “Bob” Schmit and Charles “Chuck” Dahlheimer, who like many others took their lives after living in silence from a mental illness. THUMBS UP is all about EMBRACING those who are struggling and breaking the stigma around mental health. Connecting, supporting and encouraging one another to talk about their feelings and challenges and to “KEEP MOVING FORWARD”. We are dedicated to educating and teaching about mental illness, the warning signs of suicide, what you can to do help others who struggle and community awareness initiatives. Let’s UNITE to help others to KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

Their Mission Statement: 

“We value LIFE and we ASPIRE to help others in our COMMUNITY by talking about MENTAL HEALTH.”