JCK FOUNDATION VISITS CCA

Clear Creek Amana High School welcomed the nonprofit JCK Foundation, based in New York, from March 11 to 13, to give group presentations to students, staff and community members to support mental health and wellbeing. High schoolers also had the option to attend breakout sessions later in the week. JCK incorporates their values of empathy, vulnerability, and self-acceptance into all of their work. 

“[The JCK Foundation] focuses on promoting mental wellness by encouraging connection, reducing the stigma around mental health, and helping students understand that they are not alone in their experiences,” wrote High School Principal Thomas Daniel in his personal message at the end of The Clipper Compass emailed on March 6. 

John Tessitore from the JCK Foundation talking to students about the importance of mental health; photo by Tadiswa Maneswa

Daniel said that CCA’s goal is to create an environment in the school in which “every student feels valued, connected, and supported.” The JCK Foundation’s visit provides CCA with an “opportunity to strengthen awareness and support for student well-being” in our community. 

The JCK Foundation was named after John Cleaver Kelly, a man with a kind and loving soul who suffered from OCD and depression. The foundation was created by John Tessitore, a close friend of Kelly’s, who also has OCD and depression but was able to feel strengthened by the support and care he received from Kelly.

While Kelly lost his battle with OCD and depression, his legacy lives on and is shared by the JCK Foundation to thousands of people each year. His loving and supportive spirit is the foundation of JCK, which encourages students to be vulnerable and empathetic with each other, building a community in which they feel connected and uplifted by. All students from 8th to 12th grade attended hour-long group presentations with their class on March 11. Staff and community presentations were held later that same day. On March 12 and 13, students had the option to attend breakout sessions.

Students reported feeling more able to open up to others and share about their experiences with mental health after the JCK experience.“My whole life I’ve never wanted to share or open up to people, especially the ones closest to me. All throughout middle school I never opened up to people because I was scared of how they would respond or that they were dealing with something worse than me,” said freshman Natalie Schieltz. “What they said made me realize that people won’t judge me and if they do, then I shouldn’t talk to those people but find others instead.” 

Collectively, the student body views mental health as an important matter of discussion and one that should be responded to with acceptance and empathy instead of shame.

Freshman Nola Ford says her biggest takeaway from JCK is that mental health is a normal thing to talk about and seek help for because everyone struggles sometimes in one way or another. “The best way to be there for someone is to accept them as they are and act as an empathetic individual willing to listen to their thoughts and feelings to encourage people to be more open about their mental health.”

Senior Harper Cochran agrees with this. She says, “I think everyone should be able to freely talk about mental health to whoever they feel the most comfortable with.There should not be a stigma around sharing mental health, nobody is ever a burden for talking about mental health problems.”

Senior Bash Corley shared an epiphany he had during the sessions. An important takeaway for him that JCK emphasized is that no one is alone in their struggles. “We all have those unspoken fears, thoughts, and desires. We live under the assumption that nobody could possibly understand, but the best way to confront those thoughts and reinforce the notion that you aren’t alone is to speak up about the unspoken,” Corley says. “There are literally too many people in the world for you, and you alone, to be the only one with a certain thought, feeling, belief, or fear.” 

Want to reach out to the speakers?  Email them at:

John Tessitore: john@jckfoundation.org

Kevin McMahon: kevin@jckfoundation.org

or through their website: JCKFOUNDATION.ORG