​ Fox Lane HS Students Take in Powerful Mental Health Presentation

“I grew up in a relatively religious family and during the summer going into seventh grade, there was one night where I couldn't stop saying my bedtime prayers,” John Tessitore, Founder and Executive Director of the JCK Foundation, told Fox Lane High School sophomores during a recent presentation. “I kept thinking, if I don't say these prayers right, my mom is going to be possessed by the devil and this is all my fault. I knew deep down that the thoughts weren't rational, but I couldn't control it. So I found myself staying up until four or five in the morning, saying prayers over and over and over again.”

Tessitore, who visited the high school for two full days with JCK Foundation Program Manager Kevin McMahon, shared his personal struggles as part of a mental health presentation in which they both spoke candidly with students about empathy and vulnerability and shared their experiences with obsessive compulsive disorder and depression.

“The hardest part wasn't just the rituals that I had to do,” he continued. “It was the hiding. I felt like if any of my friends knew that I was having these thoughts, they were going to push me away. So I did everything I possibly could to hide who I was. It was a really, really damaging time for me.”

The Mary Lou Meese Theater was quiet as Tessitore and McMahon shared some of their darkest mental health struggles — as well as the support that likely saved both of their lives.

Hearing Tessitore and MaMahon’s experiences and listening to the ways they have been there for each other through their struggles made a big impact on students.

“The personal journeys that the presenters had with their mental health, their courage to share those experiences and their willingness to send the message to students that they are not alone in their own struggles was powerful,” said Dean of Student Activities Amy Pirro. “They had a measurable impact on students. More than half the students who answered our post-presentation survey reported that the presentation had a ‘great deal of impact’ on them. An additional 30% of students said that the presentation had ‘some impact’ on them.”

Angela Alvarado, Fox Lane High School’s Student Assistance Counselor, noted that students also learned how important it is to connect with someone to get the help they need.

“Students had an opportunity to connect with the speakers throughout the two days they were here,” Alvarado said. “Many students who did said they felt heard, understood and were happy to hear that JCK has a youth group that meets on Thursday evenings that they can be a part of.”

Thank you to the Bedford/Lewisboro/Pound Ridge Drug Abuse Prevention Council, Mt. Kisco Partners in Prevention Coalition, FLHSA and the Foundation for Bedford Central Schools for making this experience possible for our students.