Thirteen students were recognized as part of East Mecklenburg High School’s Senior Awards Day May 21 for their work with Teen Health Connection’s The Big Picture video series. Teen Health Connection provides integrated medical and behavioral health care for adolescents and young adults ages 11 through 25.

“The Big Picture is the health education tool of Teen Health Connection and is a video series that is written by teens, for teens, about teens,” said Jerri Haigler, senior development officer for Teen Health Connection. “We have partnered with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), teens from East Mecklenburg High School and the theater program to create scripts for these videos, with some advisement from our health educators and data from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.”

Seniors Oro Allen-Slattery, Ana Marcela Chaguendo, Annabelle Easterwood, Lila Gibbs, Niyaah James, Gabe Johnson, Cassidy MacLeod, Jennifer Mejia-Armenta, Olivia Myers, Grey Packard, Phoenix Pohlheber, Zara Taty and Nyla Wells worked in teams to write video scripts and act in the productions. Theater Arts teacher Bernadette Macleod led the effort, and Kim Bratton Media produced the videos, Haigler said.

Topics for this year’s project included body dysmorphia (the video shown at the ceremony), as well as the fear of missing out, anxiety and eating disorders. The videos are presented by Teen Health Connection in schools and in the community at nonprofit groups, houses of worship and other places where representatives can talk with teens and parents about the issues teens are facing.

“We've been doing this since 2012, and it started off as a live performance,” Haigler said. “When COVID came along, we weren’t able to bring groups together. We started doing the video series, and I think that allows us to get out into the community, show these more, and they have a much longer shelf life.” 

The videos can be found on the organization’s website at https://teenhealthconnection.org/the-big-picture/, and the group is holding training sessions in the community. Counselors, social workers and psychologists from CMS and partners from Mecklenburg County, including the Department of Social Services and Youth and Family Services, recently attended a training focused on teens and technology. 

“We’re really trying to get this information out because these are issues teens are facing right now,” Haigler said. “We’ve got to have a full community wrapping around our teens to help them be successful.”