LAND O' LAKES, Fla. — At Sunlake High School, a child psychologist, a basketball coach and a high school senior recently talked to a group of girls about their mental wellbeing.
It was all part of the school's health and wellness seminar.
“It's a group of girls, who may be athletes, may be friends of the athletes, may be friends of our team. But they can get together and talk, share challenges, share solutions, share skills for how we can be better ladies every day,” explained Reesa Hendrix-Pledge, the school basketball coach.
Hendrix-Pledge started the "Pink Ladies Club" in 2016 after seeing how low self-esteem was impacting her players and students.
The seminar is interactive, so the girls can share what they are personally going through. The girls talk about everything from self-esteem to body image to peer pressure.
“I can say that managing school and personal life and basketball is definitely not easy,” said Jelissa Anderson, an 11th grader.
Anderson said she even deleted social media in the past because of how it affects her mental health.
“I did it more because I wanted to focus on myself and basketball. And I noticed I was comparing myself to other people, like either going through relationships or friendships or whatever it is, you tend to compare yourself,” said Anderson.
Seventh grader Aaliyah Halperin said she, too, gets caught up in social media posts.
“I'm worried about pleasing people. If people are together like friends are together, and I'm not there, and they post on social media, then it makes me feel left out sometimes,” said Halperin.
Basketball player Catherine Carey helped put on the seminar after going through body image issues herself. But she's worked hard on her self-esteem and is now paying it forward.
“I use all that that I've learned. And I help my new incoming freshmen because I'm a senior now. I'm the team captain. I take that, and I teach the new freshmen, like incoming freshmen, that mentality instead of what I had to go through,” said Carey.
And after taking the seminar, the girls feel more empowered.
“Finding the right people to surround yourself with and be able to find people that you can talk to and let them support you,” said Halperin.
“I'm not going to be a person these people want me to be. And I'm going to be strong, and I know what I'm capable of,” said Anderson.
Coach Pledge hopes the girls walk away with one important goal.
“Women supporting each other is definitely a skill and definitely a foundation that they should want to inspire and move forward," said Pledge. "Because encouraging one another and inspiring one another is going to bring more light in the world. And the more that we can do that, the more we're facilitating and exponentially growing good things in the world."