#KyleCares

[riilsports]

RIIL/KyleCares Teen Mental Health Summit delivers message that “You Are Not Alone”   

January 24, 2024

BY CAROLYN THORNTON

Rhode Island Interscholastic League

PROVIDENCE, RI – More than 220 Rhode Island high school students and chaperones representing 31 schools attended the RIIL/KyleCares Teen Mental Health Summit, Friday, January 12, 2024 at Gaige Hall on the Rhode Island College campus. This important workshop - that we offered free of charge to students from RIIL member schools - stressed the importance of focusing on one's emotional well-being through self-care, encouraging those students who are struggling with their mental health to seek help and guiding them on the best ways to do so.

     The conference began with keynote speaker Ivy Watts in the Gaige auditorium. Author of the book, “You Are Worth Fighting For,” Watts is a former All-American track and field athlete, who graduated Summa Cum Laude and finished as a Top 30 Finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Despite her outward success as a student-athlete, she struggled in silence with her mental health and self-worth and now openly shares her story in the hopes of breaking the stigma around mental health.

     “I want you all to know that you can start today no matter how negative you’ve been with yourself in your past,” Watts told the attendees. “You can start today and can start pouring into your self-love and positivity. It’s something I wish I had done when I was your age.”

     “You have an opportunity to start today,” Watts continued. “You have an opportunity to be gentle with yourself when you don’t do as well as you wanted to in a situation. You have an opportunity to be gentle with yourself and tell yourself that ‘I know I can start over. I know that I am worthy of starting over. I know that I did my best and that was good enough in that moment.

     “You can literally give yourself a hug, and that’s a really great way to know that you’re not alone in that moment,” said Watts, wrapping her arms around herself. “You can pour some love into yourself. You can put your hand over your heart and tell yourself that ‘I am safe. I am loved. I am good enough. I am smart. I am worthy.’ These are all tools that you can pour into your self-love starting today, no matter how negative you’ve been with yourself in the past.”

       After listening to Watts, students and chaperones then rotated through nine breakout sessions throughout the morning and concluded with lunch at Donovan Dining Center. In light of the challenging themes brought up during the conference, a Mental Health Support Lounge staffed with licensed clinical psychologists was available throughout the day for anyone who needed to take a breather, calm and center themselves or chat with a counselor.  

    Former Patriots running back Thomas Clayton, two-time Super Bowl Champion Tully Banta-Cain and mascot Pat Patriot paid a visit to Friday’s mental health summit, posing for photos with the students. Banta-Cain also took part in an entertaining Q&A session with participants during lunch that included a few of the students joining him on stage to sing Lean On Me.

     This conference was offered as part of a unified proactive approach by the RIIL and KyleCares in advocating for mental health awareness across the RIIL community by promoting educational and training opportunities to high school principals and athletic directors and introducing the “KyleCares-WeCare” awareness campaign which hinges on the belief that “Mental Health Matters” as much as physical health.

     Watts concluded her keynote speech by asking the audience to join her in repeating three positive affirmations: “I am worthy. I am capable. I am good enough.”

      “You might be saying, well, the change isn’t going to happen overnight,” she said to the students. “Well, you’re right. It takes a lot of effort to begin to believe - for your body, your brain, to really believe these affirmations. It’s a consistent practice, just like anything else in your life. But just by saying these affirmations, your brain does hear it. Your brain does begin to believe it. And over time, you’re going to carry yourself differently, view yourself differently, love yourself differently and be able to accept yourself through all of the changes.”   

[calliopemoon]

Come Watch a Stream!

Hey friends! My best friend Star is having a stream for a Mental Health Awareness charity (in honour of a previous classmate) and I'm a Guest! Want to hear me be a dork? Tune in! It'll be about 10-6 (ish)

Here's her post!

"Hello everyone, some of you may not know but on occasion, I live stream on Twitch. Most of the time it is just for fun today however I wanted to stream for a cause. I have chosen Kyle Cares for today. KyleCares is a non-profit dedicated to promoting open and honest communication about the mental health challenges experienced by teens and young adults. Our goal is to financially assist in the implementation of educational programs and processes aimed at increasing mental health awareness and suicide prevention for this age bracket. We will hopefully be starting at around 10 am EST. Feel free to come hang out with us here https://www.twitch.tv/star_lynns as we play some games and maybe raise some money to promote honest and open communication about mental health.

Go check out their facebook page and their website. https://www.facebook.com/KyleCaresInc/

https://kylecaresinc.org/?fbclid=IwAR0ubPnuFnfZij1WiR2cJumwT4lnYf9cSLuvJ2DYW7bdtKODhU_E8OVpsW0 "

[riilsports]

RIIL Newsletter - January 2024 Edition

January 24, 2024

CHECK OUT the January 2024 RIIL Newsletter: https://ow.ly/tcMt50Qu6Xs

Highlights:

Recap of RIIL/KyleCares Teen Mental Health Summit

Nominations open for RIIL Student-Athlete of the Year Award, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI

Applications now open for RIIL Local 51 Scholarship

Army ROTC Application Info

Applications now open for Alice Sullivan Memorial Scholarship

And More

[riilsports]

RIIL and KyleCares join forces in supporting student-athlete mental health 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WARWICK, RI (October 17, 2023) – The Rhode Island Interscholastic League is proud to announce a new partnership with KyleCares, Inc. that will support the emotional well-being of students across our membership. 

     KyleCares and the RIIL will take a unified proactive approach in advocating for mental health awareness across the RIIL community. This will include promoting educational and training opportunities to high school principals and athletic directors and introducing the “KyleCares-WeCare” awareness campaign which hinges on the belief that “Mental Health Matters” as much as physical health.  

    Through this collaborative effort, KyleCares and the RIIL aim to support students by stressing the importance of focusing on their emotional well-being through self-care and by encouraging students who are struggling with their mental health to seek help.

      Plans are already underway for a RIIL teen mental health summit, to be held Friday, January 12, 2024 at Rhode Island College. In collaboration with KyleCares, this free conference will focus on the importance of wellness and self-care. 

         Within its overall mission, the RIIL remains committed to placing just as much emphasis on a student’s emotional health and well-being as their academic and athletic success.  

     “One of the main priorities at the RIIL is the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of students,” said RIIL Executive Director Mike Lunney. “It’s not just about how they perform on the field or whether they win or lose. We care about the whole student. So we are very excited to partner with KyleCares to provide mental health awareness and support to our membership.” 

     The teen mental health crisis continues to increase across the United States, and athletes are not immune to anxiety or depression. The stress of competing at a high level in high school sports while balancing studies, part-time jobs and personal relationships can often overwhelm young people. Unfortunately, many will never admit they’re struggling with their mental health. A trusted, caring adult can be a positive influence for young people. Athletic departments and coaches are uniquely positioned to provide support when an athlete is struggling emotionally or withdrawn. Schools can increase the likelihood that students in need will receive the appropriate help by developing a strong link between their athletic programs and counselor resources.

About KyleCares: KyleCares is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that helps high schools and colleges in New England support student mental health by CONNECTING schools with mental health resources, FACILITATING long-term strategies, and FUNDING school-based mental health education, awareness, and suicide prevention progams. Ultimately they aim to eliminate student self-harm and suicide by creating school environments where students and their caregivers have the confidence and support to seek help without shame or hesitation. See more information at www.KyleCaresInc.org 

About the RIIL: The Rhode Island Interscholastic League is a voluntary organization of principals who pledge their high schools and participants to follow the Rules and Regulations of the League. There are seventy-four (74) public, private and parochial high schools who make up the membership. These schools sponsor athletic activities in thirty-one (31) sports, as well as esports. More than thirty thousand (30,000) student-athletes compete annually in thousands of competitions among Rhode Island Interscholastic League member schools. The purpose of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League is to supervise and administer the athletic programs, contests and schedules and matters related thereto in participating schools of the State of Rhode Island. Find RIIL at riil.org and on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

### 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

KyleCares - Jim Johnson

jjohnson@kylecaresinc.org

508-878-3990

RI Interscholastic League – Carolyn Thornton

carolyn@riil.org

401-272-9844