Student Executive Council Publicity Commissioners seniors Jennifer Li, Yuna Suh, and junior Hannah Mei are working together on an art gallery for their Impact Project. The gallery would display pieces of student-made 2D art on the walls of the new Titan Hub and Grub throughout the month of March. Their shared goal is to give all students a way of demonstrating their artistic capabilities and create an impact on the community by spotlighting artists on campus, emphasizing that talent doesn’t lie solely in academics.

Typically, a student must be in an art program to showcase their work. With this in mind, Li, Mei, and Suh wanted to give all students the opportunity of displaying their artwork on campus. Mei is especially eager to recognize student talent, hoping that it will create a more positive environment.

“I’m most excited to see the different art pieces that will be submitted, and I’m really excited to see what other people’s reactions to them are to give artists more publicity,” she said.

The group plans for the gallery to be placed near the Titan Grub, so students in line for lunch can view polished pieces of art created by their peers.

“When people get lunch, they can stop and see different artworks displayed by students on campus,” Mei said. “We want to showcase the talent on our campus, especially for people who are not enrolled in art programs and don’t have any other way to demonstrate (their skills).”

Mei notes that students may feel apprehensive about sharing their creations, but hopes that others will create a safe and supportive environment.

“I just hope that people don’t feel shy to submit (their art) and I also hope that people who see those artworks (will be) respectful to it and acknowledge the talent,” she said.

Pursuing a shared passion to understand the teenage brain and bolster student wellness, Wellness Commissioner senior Aarya Bhushan and Diversity Commissioner junior Natalie Chan aim to cultivate an atmosphere of collaborative mental health support through their SEC Impact Project: bringing peer support circles to campus. While transparent that their project is not a substitute for professional mental health resources, Bhushan and Chan hope that these circles can be places of newfound camaraderie and conversation as a first step toward wellness resources for students in need.

Aspiring to provide alternative resources for students who need support, Bhushan and Chan are embracing a more informal, student-led structure for their project. When analyzing the reasons why students may not take full advantage of Gunn’s Wellness Center or therapy, Bhushan realizes that parental consent is an intimidating barrier for many.

“Legally, you need to be 18 in order to get therapy without a guardian knowing, so we came up with the idea to have a peer support group,” she said. “We’re still going to have someone supervise the conversation, just in case it gets too serious (and) redirect them to the help that they might actually need, but the whole point is (these student-led circles) can be pretty light-hearted (and still) fulfill the potential burden someone might be feeling.”

These circles would be open to all students on a voluntary basis to attract interested, active participants. Their front-running idea is to host circles during Social and Emotional Literacy and Functionality, Prime, or Study Hall with activities and food, led and supervised by trained students and staff facilitators.

“Our goal is to have student supervisors, along with maybe an adult or two to (oversee), because I feel like, when it’s coming from the perspective of a student, (other students) are more willing to open up,” Chan said. “And, it would be a good opportunity for students who want to become student leaders, not just in SEC, to go through a quick (supervisor) training and be able to collaborate and lead.”

Long-term, with enough engagement and experience, the mission of their project is to amplify Wellness Center and SELF offerings by reinforcing safe spaces for cohorts of students to share and support each other. According to Bhushan, the peer circles would be a safe step for participating students to further appreciate and use Gunn’s mental health resources.

“(The goal of) our project is (that mental health resources) don’t have to be that serious, all at once,” she said. “(The peer circles) wouldn’t be limited to people that need therapy, but it’s a less weighted step to getting support and normalizing help.”

To achieve the goal of bridging the gap between student waste habits and the often-overlooked efforts of the custodial staff, a four-person Student Executive Council Impact Project is introducing a small but powerful solution: worms. SEC officers seniors Chloe Wang, Evelyn Shen, Floyd Neesen, and Jessie Han plan to implement a vermicomposting system, a process where worms decompose waste into nutrient-rich soil, as well as create video episodes that interview custodians and launch a waste-awareness campaign.

“We’re trying to give light to the fact that someone is taking time to pick up the trash that’s left on the ground after brunch but completely gone by lunch,” Neesen said. “(Our project) will have the impact of making our campus a more connected place across generations: custodians and youth (alike). That’s a humanizing perspective that other waste initiatives weren’t showing. (However) we’re all identifying that trash is left out, even right near trash cans, or improperly sorted.”

In the coming months, the team plans to launch a YouTube series that features the custodians and explores their perspectives on these issues. During April’s Earth Week, SEC will partner with the Green Team to host a vermicomposting workshop, including how to set up a worm bin, how to maintain proper moisture levels, and how to harvest the finished compost. This event will lay the groundwork for vermicomposting’s long-term implementation.

“As one of our goals, we want to bring vermicomposting onto a bigger scale, especially with a new cafeteria,” Han said. “Logistically, we’re still figuring out things like how we can sustain it throughout upcoming years and how we can transport the dirt to the garden. I feel like, if it works, it would be an amazing feature on our campus.”

At the heart of the project lies the dual focus on platforming cleaner, more accountable waste habits and addressing the lack of empathy surrounding custodial work.

“There’s such a negative stigma around picking up trash, whether it’s your own or others’,” Shen said. “There’s this false idea that it’s only gross, and that attitude makes it harder to appreciate the people who work to make our campus better every day.”