{"id":636247,"date":"2026-10-20T11:46:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/636247\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T11:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:46:22","slug":"its-ok-to-not-be-ok-pep-rally-for-local-students-spotlights-mental-health-challenges-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/636247\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s OK to not be OK:’ Pep rally for local students spotlights mental health challenges | Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLife is better with you here.\u201d<\/p>\n

That message from Anthony Grant, the head men\u2019s basketball coach at the University of Dayton, was one of the messages of hope that more than 1,600 students from 28 Dayton-area middle and high schools heard at a pep rally for mental health at UD Arena.<\/p>\n

The event was hosted by Dayton-based health insurer CareSource and University of Dayton Athletics. Between basketball-related challenges for the students in which they got to play with members of the Dayton Flyers men\u2019s basketball team, speakers reinforced the message \u201cIt\u2019s OK to not be OK\u201d and encouraged students to ask for help when it\u2019s needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people out there and resources that are available if and when you\u2019re struggling,\u201d said Christine \u2018\u201cChris\u201d Grant, Anthony Grant\u2019s wife. Together they started Jay\u2019s Light, a mental health and suicide prevention initiative created in honor of their daughter, Jayda, who died by suicide on May 30, 2022.<\/p>\n

Thousands to see Medicare Advantage plans change in 2027; What to consider when picking a new plan<\/a><\/p>\n

Anybody going through a mental health crisis can call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In Ohio, the state offers Mobile Response and Stabilization Services that can be accessed through calling 988. The mobile response services are part of the state\u2019s free, statewide crisis support program for children, teens, and young adults aged 20 and under who are experiencing overwhelming mental, emotional or behavioral distress.<\/p>\n

\u201cMental health matters just as much as physical health, and young people need to hear that from the people they look up to,\u201d said Scott Markovich, CareSource executive vice president, markets and products. \u201cBringing students together at UD Arena makes these conversations a little easier to start. We want every student to leave knowing that they don\u2019t have to face hard moments alone and that it\u2019s OK to not be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

CareSource also awarded $10,000 to each of three Dayton-area schools to support mental health programming through Healthy Minds, Bright Futures, a program funded by the CareSource Foundation. The schools receiving grants were National Trail Local Schools, West Carrollton Middle School and Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School.<\/p>\n

Those funds will be invested in programs that support mental health, Markovich said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned different ways to connect to different people who are also in the same situation as me,\u201d Alex Roberts, a student at DECA High School, said about the mental health pep rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of was a relief to know that other people are going through things that I\u2019m going through, and it also gave me an outlet to know who I can trust, especially the adults who are here to help with my journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

CareSource and Dayton Men\u2019s Basketball will again partner to host Notre Dame in a charity exhibition game 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at UD Arena, 1801 S. Edwin C Moses Blvd., Dayton. The game will benefit Jay\u2019s Light and support awareness of adolescent and young adult mental health and suicide prevention, marking the fourth year of the partnership.<\/p>\n

State auditors accuse Ohio Medicaid of having \u2018poor management practices\u2019 in latest performance audit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cLife is better with you here.\u201d That message from Anthony Grant, the head men\u2019s basketball coach at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-636247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}