Students at Merrick Avenue Middle School were invited to attend a crafting activity after school on Oct. 16, where they crafted and created personalized journals hosted by the school’s Wellness & Counseling Center.

School psychologist Kristin Bishop and guidance counselor Tammy Sabatino said the after-school workshop was aimed at helping students track progress and growth, gaining self-confidence, improving writing skills, reducing stress, finding inspiration and more. 

“You are kind of writing to yourself in this journal and compartmentalizing it all,” Sabatino explained to students. “You’re getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper.”

“You can always go back and review it,” added Bishop. “It could be like a time capsule of sorts.”
Bishop added that journaling did not have to include writing.

“It could be poetry, lyrics or drawings,” she said. “Whatever you find is the most expressive for you.”

In addition to the individual journals students’ created, they were asked to craft an additional one to be kept in the Wellness & Counseling Center for peers to have access to. They earned community service credits for this portion of the activity.