Quingo Bingo helps kids feel connected

Although students haven’t been in school, Sources of Strength is still working to make sure that students feel like they belong and that their voice can be heard. In order to do that, the group organized a Quarantine Bingo contest right before winter break. 

Sources of Strength adviser Stacy Derrick said that the group came up with the bingo idea to allow their peers to choose what activities they wanted to do. “The Sources of Strength national office has a few ideas of campaign to do virtually. We shared these ideas with the group, we asked their opinions, they shared some other ideas and then we took a vote,” she said.  “I think the peer leaders saw it as something that everyone could do no matter what their current COVID situation was,¨ she said. 

The group thought that the bingo activity would help kids know that even through the hard times they could have fun and do this activity with their friends. Students had to complete an activity that was on the bingo board and send a picture of it in to win a prize. They could facetime their friends and do it together with them. A lot of people liked this activity and many did it and had fun. 

 Junior Krystal Cruz-Lugo thought the activity was needed at this time. “As in these days, it is known that pandemic has deprived everyone of being able to go out and share. With the help of Quingo, they can become active within their homes. And not only that, but also to keep in touch with friends by being able to do the same activities, by call or face to face. I honestly loved the activity,¨ she said.

Sophomore Amelia McCarthy enjoyed planning Quingo. ¨We came up with the bingo activity by brainstorming ideas and then voting for the ones we liked the most, and that one won. I believe it went really well,¨ she said

Derrick agrees that it went well. “The bingo activity overall we thought went well; staff, students, and community members completed a total of 781 healthy activities. After the week was over we got together as a group to discuss what we thought worked really well and what we thought we need to do better/differently if we do another virtual activity,¨ she said.

Junior Akayla Raasch is in Sources of Strength and she wants to help people that don’t feel like they can talk to anyone, and to help them feel like they belong.  ¨I joined Sources of Strength  because I saw an opportunity to help my peers that felt like there was no one to talk to or help them with their struggles,¨ she said. ¨GHS has been through a lot during my time here at least, and it seemed to be one thing on top of the other. People needed to be able to talk about it, and say how they felt, and sources acted as a family to help do that.” 

Science Teacher Zachary Geiger explains that Sources of Strength is a “research-based project which intends to model help-seeking behaviors for teenagers through peer social networks. ¨I think that Sources of Strength is an important group to have because anyone who graduates high school should be prepared to deal with difficult times(which are inevitable). We obviously value academic achievement in Greendale, but it is also really valuable to deliberately teach/model these social-emotional skills, as well,¨ he said.

Freshman Nikolina Gallo thinks that it is important to have Sources of Strength at school. “We spread awareness and try to bring positivity to our school especially in these tough times,¨ she said. ¨I signed up for Sources of Strength to help make our school a more positive place. I want my peers to know that Sources of Strength is here to help and if they need help they should reach out, and we would gladly help,” she added. 

 Derrick really enjoys being a Sources of Strength adviser. “One of the things that I like about Sources of Strength is that I like being able to talk to kids about something other than school work. I really enjoy getting to know students on a deeper level,¨ she said. ¨Sources of Strength has absolutely changed me as a person. I am always amazed by the creative ideas students come up during our brainstorming sessions. Initially I thought I would be more of the planner / organizer for activities. What I have learned is that the GHS student body has WAY better ideas than I could ever dream of. I am much more likely to ask for a student’s opinion / ideas now-a-days than I was before. BTW – thanks to all the students who have given me some great advice!,¨ she added. 

Cruz-Lugo likes that  the group is in charge of helping people who need it. “I feel like it helps mental health more. And I think it is important because of the issue of the pandemic that has caused the greatest impact on depression,¨ she said. ¨First of all I think that Sources of Strength  is important to have because students can quietly be going through difficult times that are not even noticeable. And sometimes it is so much that they let it show, it is important to remember that they must have a force from somewhere.”