After a successful Marvelous Mondays pilot at Traverse Heights Elementary this winter, we’re excited to expand to Central Grade School this spring. Terrific Tuesdays provide fun, structured play at Central Grade School during lunch recess to increase physical activity, encourage positive behaviors, and improve wellbeing. Do you have one hour a week at lunch thisContinue reading “Terrific Tuesdays: Structured Play Program to Improve Wellbeing at Central Grade School”
Category Archives: We Fight
On Youth Mental Health + Making Things Happen in Northern Michigan
“…there is a gap between making demands and making them happen. It is the gap between the rhetoric of revolution and the actual changes in values, systems, habits, and skills that add up to a revolution.” Making demands and making things happen are miles apart. Making demands is easy – and often lazy and selfish.Continue reading “On Youth Mental Health + Making Things Happen in Northern Michigan”
Jessie Fousset to Speak at Elevate Northern Michigan Mental Health Summit #3
Jessie (she/her) earned her Master’s in Social Justice & Education at University College London and is the Marketing & Events Coordinator at Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center. Jessie also recently spoke at the University of Michigan’s Youth Mental Health Peer To Peer Conference with student leaders from Traverse City Central High School and West SeniorContinue reading “Jessie Fousset to Speak at Elevate Northern Michigan Mental Health Summit #3”
Shandy Longcore to Speak at Elevate Northern Michigan Mental Health Summit #3
Shandy Longcore grew up in a quaint small town in northwest Lower Michigan, thedaughter of two loving parents who never saw the day coming when she would retreatinto the basement of their home and try to kill herself. She was only 10 at the time. The night before, Shandy had determined that she just wasn’tContinue reading “Shandy Longcore to Speak at Elevate Northern Michigan Mental Health Summit #3”
Ty Curtis to Speak at Elevate Northern Michigan Mental Health Summit #3
Ty Curtis LMSW is passionate about helping young people remove the mental and emotional barriers holding them back from leading more successful and fulfilling lives. He is an LMSW practicing in Traverse City since 2007, and in that time has worked with a wide range of people and organizations, with particular focus on mental health/illness,Continue reading “Ty Curtis to Speak at Elevate Northern Michigan Mental Health Summit #3”
John Boonstra to Speak at Elevate Northern Michigan Mental Health Summit #3
John Boonstra (he/him) is a local counselor, father, and stereotypical middle-aged Traverse City Man (sports a beard, drives a truck, and claims he enjoys biking while never actually seen biking). John graduated from Northwestern Michigan College in 2001; after graduating from NMC he drove south on 131 to claim his BS degree and then aContinue reading “John Boonstra to Speak at Elevate Northern Michigan Mental Health Summit #3”
The 2022 Good Works Lab Annual Report
Our 2022 initiatives (more information and photos found in the annual report document):
Making a Promise To Do Better in 2023
“Young people don’t need to be our next crisis—but they do need us to do better.” One year ago, a small but mighty group of ordinary people came together to form We Fight Northern Michigan – a community with one agenda: leverage the Surgeon General’s Advisory to better protect the mental health of our young people. AndContinue reading “Making a Promise To Do Better in 2023”
Marvelous Mondays: Structured Play Program to Improve Well-being at Traverse Heights Elementary
Marvelous Mondays is a pilot program that provides fun, easy, structured play at Traverse Heights Elementary during recess. This program organizes play with Traverse Heights’ Roadrunner Club (community volunteers) to increase physical activity, encourage positive behaviors and improve well-being. Terrific Tuesdays provide fun, structured play at Central Grade School during lunch recess to increase physicalContinue reading “Marvelous Mondays: Structured Play Program to Improve Well-being at Traverse Heights Elementary”
Self-Compassion, Social Intelligence + Lifesavers in Support of Youth Mental Health in Northern Michigan
Earlier this month, We Fight, a self-organizing network of people who care, hosted Elevate Northern Michigan #2: A Mental Health Summit Series for Young Leaders — and Those Who Love Them. Elevate Northern Michigan aims to boost knowledge, shift attitudes, decrease stigma and build support for a Northern Michigan where everyone plays a role in protectingContinue reading “Self-Compassion, Social Intelligence + Lifesavers in Support of Youth Mental Health in Northern Michigan”
Good Works Lab 