Milford HS Students Create Song To Encourage Peers To Think Well

MILFORD, MA — A group of Milford High School students recently completed a song as part of a collaborative effort to fight mental health issues among young people. The song, "What Makes You Well?", will debut in the fall when the new school year begins.

Here's more from the National Museum of Mental Health Project, Inc., which helped the students create the song:

How do I look? Do I like, or know, who I am? Does anyone like me? Am I alone? These questions
weigh heavily on the minds of many young people. In contrast, a group of Milford High School students have lobbed an intriguing new question into the mix; What makes you well? It is a question that the students ask musically, and then answer with emotion, philosophy, authenticity, and at times a wry smile in a new song they wrote and recorded named "What Makes You Well?"

"What Makes You Well?" is a four-minute song that was written and recorded at Milford High
School during May and June as part of a program named Community Songwriting on Campus.
The song will be released when school returns for the fall.

"What Makes You Well?" results from an innovative collaboration between Milford High School
students, faculty, leadership, and the Director of Social Emotional Learning for Milford Public
Schools; the Rhode Island-based Same Thing Project; and the Milford-based National Museum
of Mental Health Project. Musicians and non-musicians alike collaborated on the song, whose
roots stem from a chance encounter at Garden Pizza in Milford.

In the middle of winter, I felt myself splinter,
The sky was gray, another isolated day,
Stay in my bed, bury my head, I’ll be OK

The Surgeon General warns of an isolation epidemic. One goal of the Mental Health Awareness
club (MHA) at MHS is to get students talking about wellness in creative ways. As the above
lyrics speak, loneliness is real, but can be overcome. MHA is student-led and was founded by
MHS transfer student, and rising senior, Eve Gergis. MHA is advised by teacher and MHS alum
Jenna Smith, and Lisa Kingkade, Milford’s Director of Social Emotional Learning.

"What Makes You Well?" makes use of an emerging musical genre called community songwriting,
where musicians and non-musicians collaborate in a facilitated workshop to create a new song -
one word, one verse, and one note at a time. The song was written and recorded over the course of four one-hour sessions during the FLEX period at MHS, amidst the busyness of typical
school days. One recording session was interrupted by a fire drill. Even MHS students who felt uncomfortable proposing words for the song, or singing, could be observed sharing in the creative energy, good feelings, and fun of making new music.

Having a good moment that's peaceful and pure.
Not worried about tomorrow or how the day ends.

Other lyrics of "What Makes You Well?" can be interpreted by the listener as wisdom that is applicable for all, regardless of age. The Same Thing Project and founder Mark Cutler take inspiration from the idea that at some level we all want the same thing.

"What Makes You Well?" is a catchy song that has hooks and is produced by Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame inductee Cutler in an Americana/roots style, sometimes twangy but always energetic. Earlier in his career, Cutler fronted a band that won the legendary WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble, had music played on MTV, and was the opening act on a Bob Dylan tour. Same Thing Project holds weekly (free) community songwriting sessions in Pawtucket that are open to the public, where on any given week you will find musicians, newcomers, people with developmental disabilities, and an occasional face recognizable from a Hollywood film.

How can your heart tell, what rings in your head like a bell?
You're not alone in this great unknown.

Milford High alum Paul Piwko (82) is co-developer of the National Museum of Mental Health Project and describes the approach that undergirds Community Songwriting on Campus, “Wherever creativity is thriving...learning, fun, community, and mental health are usually benefitting.” National Museum of Mental Health Project co-developed Community Songwriting on Campus with the Same Thing Project. Local colleges that have hosted workshops and written songs include Clark University, WPI, and Johnson & Wales University, however "What Makes You Well?" is a first-of-its-kind community songwriting collaboration at the high school level.

Earlier this spring, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen co-authored an editorial with the National Museum of Mental Health Project that calls upon the Grammy Awards to add a category for community-made-music. "What Makes You Well?" is part of this emerging genre of music where those who believe they have no musical talent form community by bringing together unpolished voices to talk, laugh, create, and make meaningful music. In this genre, recorded voices are sometimes tentative and tender, but often smiling, hopeful, and pure.

National Museum of Mental Health Project, a nonprofit museum, is eyeing MetroWest and
Worcester County — a region the museum’s researchers have named America’s Mental Health & Wellness Corridor — for the future site of a test museum and exhibition development center. However, the museum’s development model relies heavily on programs like Community Songwriting on Campus that go out into the community.

What Makes You Well?
What Makes You Well? (repeat three more times)

As "What Makes You Well?" ends, this question reverberates five times, asking fellow students —
and all listeners — to stop, listen, and ponder with a mix of fun and seriousness. Be on the lookout for the release of "What Makes You Well?" later this year.

MHS student-songwriters of "What Makes You Well?" include: Danica Crim, Owen Enright, Lauren Flanagan, Eve Gergis (President and founder of MHA), Mia Greeley, Katherine Liatsos, Matthew Lioce, Lily Rivera, Molly Stoker, Kaylynn Strafello, Giovanna Weiner, and Evelyn Yaroshefski.