All-School Summer Projects: eZines!

This year’s “Summer of Isolation” originally seemed like it would be monotonous and boring. But, thanks to Stand Together, it was anything but that! After working extensively on school-specific projects for my school, West Allegheny, during the school closures, I saw an opportunity on Stand Together’s Instagram to join an All-School Summer Project. This post immediately caught my eye because Stand Together teams usually just work within their schools. But, as 2020 has continually shown us; anything is possible! I applied to work on these foreign All-School Summer Projects as soon as I saw the post and couldn’t wait to get to work.

eZine 1                                                                              eZine 2                                                                             eZine 3

The All-School Summer Projects (<< link!) started off with big, virtual meetings. In these initial meetings, the Summer Team, with students from West Allegheny, Montour, Shaler, CAPA, and the Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy, shared ideas on what projects we could do. With limited options, FundaMENTALs: A Youth’s Guide to Mental Health Zines and Unless… A Teenage Discussion on Mental Health Podcasts were chosen as the projects that we would pursue. The Summer Team split, and I pursued the Zines. After weekly, team-specific meetings throughout the summer, we were able to release three great editions of the Zines; ranging in topics from ADHD to Anxiety to Eating Disorders. Personally, I learned so much regarding these topics, but I also gained skills in communication and collaboration, especially in difficult circumstances. I am certain that readers, too, learned facts, statistics, and other perspectives on the topics. Writing and contributing to the Zines made my “Summer of Isolation” much more enjoyable and memorable.

I would pursue it again in a heartbeat!