Mills E. Godwin High School
Mills E. Godwin High School, located in Richmond, VA, strives to instill the values of Integrity, Perseverance, Compassion, and Excellence in each student that walks through their doors.
“We build experiences for all students structured in inquiry and innovation while empowering all students to become critical thinkers, collaborators, communicators, creators, people with quality character, and global citizens fostering a safe environment that promotes community wellness ensuring equitable opportunities for all students expecting personal responsibility from all students and engaging all students and their families.”
When thinking about their mission, it comes as no surprise that their first year of establishing a Herren Project Club has been a huge success. Specifically, during their first Wellness Week With Herren. The club advisor, Josh Gentry, was no rookie when it came to establishing a Herren Project Club, as he had run one successfully for years at his previous school. As an educator, Head Varsity Baseball Coach, and Herren Project Club Advisor, he has shown how important it is to him personally to help the students he works with to understand how much value there is in staying true to who you are. See what Josh has to say below.
In Josh’s Words
“I have kids who are starting to understand how unhealthy choices impact their lives, their family members’ lives, and their friends’ lives. These kids have started to open up a lot more about the issues they face as teens and are much more receptive to getting help when knowing that someone cares about them. I have seen a change in how they interact with those who may be struggling, and they look out for each other, but I think the biggest difference is their confidence. These kids are starting to figure out that they are unique, and they are becoming comfortable in their own skin.”- Josh Gentry
It comes as no surprise to the Prevention Team that under Josh’s guidance, this newly established club has thrived, and he’s really knocked it out of the park! Their first Wellness Week with Herren was a huge success. See what Josh had to say about some of the activities below.
“Our Wellness week was fantastic. This is our first year at Godwin supporting Wellness Week with Herren, but not my first. I have been participating for the last four years at my previous school. We had four days of events going on this year at Godwin. This year, we started with our BINGO challenge that was open to our club members and anyone they could find willing to participate. I received dozens of entries, but the first three to complete the ENTIRE card were the winners of some cool Herren Project prizes or gift cards. Tuesday, we did a fitness challenge where our club members challenged a friend to a step count challenge. They could start counting at 8am and the challenge continued until 8pm! Wednesday was our Wellness Walk day (but due to weather and other issues) we are moving that to a date sometime in April. For our wellness walk, our members will each bring two friends who are not in the Herren Project Club, and they will do a walk around the track (4 laps) to discuss what we do in our club and how we are trying to promote Wellness in our school. Thursday, our members passed out bracelets, some of the bracelets we received from the Prevention Team at Herren Project, and some of the bracelets and ribbons were made by our group members to promote wellness in our school. Most of our staff wore purple and we had a lot of kids and members all wore purple as well. It was an awesome week, and I was very encouraged by the response. We will continue to build our HP Club here at Godwin and are sponsoring a few events here in the future with our Silent No More assembly coming next week.” -Josh Gentry
Through Josh’s guidance, the students who have joined the Herren Project Club are beginning to value themselves as they are and are learning to share their knowledge with their friends, peers, and families. Please see what Cate T. has to say about the positive impact the Herren Project Club has made on her life below.
“The Herren Project Club has given me a lot of insight on who I hang out with, how I act when I am at parties, and how I respond to my friends who may be making unhealthy choices. “-Cate T. Sophomore
The Prevention Team at Herren Project works to Support, Inspire, and Empower students to BE YOU and not give in to the pressures that sometimes come with the need to feel connected to their friends and peers. The work Josh is doing with his club aligns well with our mission here at Herren Project and we are grateful to be able to share the positive impacts he and the Herren Project Club he leads are having on the school community. Thank you to Josh and the entire Mills E. Godwin School Community for giving us the opportunity to share their success!
Herren Project Clubs is a school-based, evidence-informed prevention and wellness program designed by prevention specialists, clinicians, and school counselors to empower students to live substance-free while creating a peer network in schools. Its goal is to provide tools to strengthen social-emotional learning and coping skills to make healthy choices and live fulfilling lives. Learn more about Herren Project Clubs and register to start a club at your school.
