The golden dome of Pittsfield High School — a grand, ivy-covered edifice built in 1931 — shines above Berkshire County’s urban hub on East Street, just steps from the city’s core. The public school serves over 700 students, making it the largest high school in the Berkshires.
“People, even in our town, think that young people are these big bad guys, and we go into small businesses and we steal so many places like you're not allowed as a young person to go, and we have really nowhere to go for free," said Levi Hall, a sophomore and chair of the high school’s youth advisory board. "So, if you were to go into a small business or a corporation, they would look at you as if you came with that intention. Really, you're just looking for something to do. I know Dunkin implemented a no loitering policy, and I've seen people get kicked out of restaurants all the time”
The body is a product of SPARK, or Supporting Positive Actions for Resilience & Knowledge — a Berkshire Regional Planning Commission public health undertaking aimed at improving youth peer-to-peer mental health support, reducing the use of substances, and bolstering the advocacy of young people in countywide decision making.
“Sure, there's some youth who do do bad things, but that's the same with any age group and demographic," Hall said. "Everyone has a couple bad apples, but you don't want to let that ruin the bunch. And I feel like in our town and even just throughout the United States, people say, oh yeah, kids are terrible in schools nowadays, no one listens, everyone just misbehaves- And that's just not true at all.”
“I hear a lot of mental health things about, we either don't have enough or we don't have enough resources, necessarily, to provide for every student in each individual needs," said McKenna Zamboni, the only senior on the board. "I hear a lot of that. I hear a lot of drinking and alcohol issues and nicotine issues. And weed sometimes.”
Hall says he understands the issue of mental health support.
“I struggled with mental health, and I always feel like there was really nowhere to go," he told WAMC. "I mean, even now, there's like a six month wait list for the Brien Center, which is the main provider of therapy. So really, when I found out that there was a club or group I could join that I could help a younger version of me sort of push through something, I was really drawn to that.”
To circumvent both a lack of resources in the community and the misperceptions of older generations, the youth advisory board offers peer-led approaches to handling the issues students face.
“Our main topic last week was mental health," Zamboni explained." So, we started off by, we took a topic, right? We had a burger, and then you get to find your French fry. And then the two of you would talk about an issue, like mental health, and you would come up with a question and a solution, possibly, for that question. And then you kept changing your word-.Like, if you were burger and French fry, you would find Patrick and SpongeBob. You would find your pair, your duo, to talk about different things. You get to meet more people, and get to be more social and more of like a team, and you come up with solutions and questions for what we're talking about that day.”
It's been a particularly intense time for the students of PHS. Last December, the arrest of Dean of Students Lavante Wiggins on federal charges of allegedly trafficking cocaine in and around Pittsfield led to public outcry and misconduct claims directed at other staffers at the school. Zamboni says the shadow has yet to be fully lifted.
“I think to a point we are still feeling the effects of what The golden dome of Pittsfield High School — a grand, ivy-covered building constructed in 1931 — shines above Berkshire County’s urban hub on East Street, just steps from the city’s core. The public school serves more than 700 students, making it the largest high school in the Berkshires.
“People, even in our town, think that young people are these big bad guys, and we go into small businesses and we steal,” said Levi Hall, a sophomore and chair of the school’s youth advisory board. “There are so many places you’re not allowed to go as a young person, and we really have nowhere to go for free. So, if you go into a small business or a corporation, they look at you as if you came with that intention. Really, you’re just looking for something to do. I know Dunkin’ implemented a no-loitering policy, and I’ve seen people get kicked out of restaurants all the time.”
The advisory board is part of SPARK — Supporting Positive Actions for Resilience and Knowledge — a Berkshire Regional Planning Commission public health initiative aimed at improving peer-to-peer mental health support, reducing substance use and strengthening youth advocacy in countywide decision-making.
“Sure, there’s some youth who do bad things, but that’s the same with any age group or demographic,” Hall said. “Everyone has a couple bad apples, but you don’t want to let that ruin the bunch. I feel like in our town, and even throughout the United States, people say, ‘Oh yeah, kids are terrible in schools nowadays — no one listens, everyone misbehaves.’ And that’s just not true at all.”
“I hear a lot of mental health things about how we either don’t have enough resources or not enough to provide for every student’s individual needs,” said senior McKenna Zamboni, the only senior on the board. “I hear a lot of that. I hear a lot about drinking and alcohol issues, nicotine issues — and sometimes weed.”
Hall said he understands the issue of limited mental health support firsthand.
“I struggled with mental health, and I always felt like there was really nowhere to go,” he told WAMC. “Even now, there’s like a six-month wait list for the Brien Center, which is the main provider of therapy. So when I found out there was a club or group I could join that could help a younger version of me push through something, I was really drawn to that.”
To address both the lack of community resources and the misperceptions of older generations, the youth advisory board offers peer-led approaches to handling student issues.
“Our main topic last week was mental health,” Zamboni said. “We started off by taking a topic, right? We had a burger, and then you had to find your French fry. The two of you would talk about an issue, like mental health, and come up with a question and a possible solution. Then you’d switch partners — like if you were burger and French fry, you’d find Patrick and SpongeBob. You’d find your duo to talk about different things. You get to meet more people, be more social, work as a team, and come up with solutions and questions for what we’re talking about that day.”
It’s been a particularly intense time for Pittsfield High students. Last December, the arrest of Dean of Students Lavante Wiggins on federal charges of allegedly trafficking cocaine in and around Pittsfield led to public outcry and misconduct claims directed at other school staff. Zamboni said the shadow from that incident has yet to fully lift.
“I think to a point we are still feeling the effects of what happened last holiday season,” she said. “But I think we are moving forward. We still have some hardships, and things are still coming up every day in the news, but as a school community, we are starting to move forward from what happened last year.”
The youth advisory board will soon receive more support through a $10,000 Community Impact Grant from Fallon Health, secured by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, to fund a pilot program at PHS using the Active Minds curriculum.
Public Health Planner Noé González Ortiz said 19 students are enrolled in the 13-part course, which will train them to provide peer mental health support to other students.
“They’re able to go to these peer support students and find someone who can listen to them, provide resources and guidance about where to go for help,” he said. “This does not in any way substitute for the role of school adjustment counselors, counselors or school psychologists. It’s just another level of support for students who might not be in a crisis situation — maybe they’re just feeling stressed because they have too much homework, or something is going on with personal relationships.”
The Active Minds program is launching this fall, and the commission expects to have enough information from the pilot by spring to file a full report with Pittsfield Public Schools.
“Our main goal in all this is that Active Minds is a national organization, and we hope that by the end of this curriculum we’re able to register as a national chapter for Active Minds in Pittsfield Public Schools,” González Ortiz said.
Zamboni said she has high hopes for the program’s impact at Pittsfield High.
“The ability to talk to your peers about things that maybe adults don’t understand — or things we understand on a level they don’t — it’s amazing,” she said. “Being able to actually provide support in ways adults might not understand is great, and I’m really excited for what’s going to happen.”
