LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — Mental health took center stage at Rockland Central School District when representatives from the JCK Foundation—John Tessitore and Kevin McMahon—visited to speak with students about depression, anxiety, OCD and the importance of seeking help. 

Through personal stories and interactive activities, their presentation encouraged students to be honest with themselves and each other, while helping to break the stigma surrounding mental health.

The message John and Kevin shared was especially important for students in my school district. I know a handful of kids in my school, including myself, who struggle with something, whether it’s anxiety, OCD, depression, family problems or other personal challenges. 

I truly believe this assembly helped many other students, because I know it helped me in many ways. Hearing my peers openly talk about mental health made me realize that I am not alone and I never was. That realization comforted me in a way I don’t think I had ever experienced before. Not only did hearing people I have grown up with share their experiences make me feel less alone, but listening to John and Kevin speak about their own struggles made me feel even more understood. Hearing them say they had experienced depression, just as I have, made me feel more confident in who I am.

The JCK Foundation helps people of all ages who struggle with mental health. One of its slogans, “No thought is too dark to have,” encourages people to openly talk about their feelings without stressing that they will be judged, ridiculed or made to feel unimportant. 

JCK stands for John Clever Kelly, a young man who brought joy and warmth to everyone around him. During his teenage years, he struggled with OCD and depression and tragically lost his life after his battle became too much to bear. 

Those who knew John Kelly remembered him as kind, tender and deeply empathetic, John T. and Kevin said. 

John T. then shared his own story. Before he met John Kelly, he also struggled with OCD and depression. He explained that he often acted differently at school than he did at home because he felt ashamed of what he was experiencing. As time ticked on, his mental health became more exhausting and hard to manage, leaving him feeling isolated and alone. One day, while attending a family barbecue, John T. stood quietly off to the side, watching everyone converse. John K., who was a friend of John’s older brother, approached him after learning that John had been struggling with OCD and depression. 

At first, John T. was very embarrassed that someone else knew what he was going through; however, John K. saw that immediately and quickly reassured him that he wasn’t alone because he himself had been going through the same thing. 

That conversation changed John T.’s life forever. For the first time, he realized that someone as sweet and positive as John K. was going through the same hardships and understood him. From that day forward, John T. and John K. developed an amazing bond and close friendship, supporting one another constantly and reminding each other that they weren’t alone. 

For a while after this event, John K. was John T.’s support system; they smiled with each other, shared memories, and helped one another. Up until one night. That night, John T. got a call from one of his other friends, who was really distressed. John T., concerned, kept asking what was wrong until he finally got a response. His friend told him that John K. had passed away by suicide. 

John T. was shocked and in denial. There was no way this had happened, he thought. He was extremely upset and tried to ignore it by falling asleep and pulling the covers over his head. Then, the next day, when he woke up, grief hit him like a freight train. He was distraught—utterly distraught. There was nothing now; no light, no support system, no John Clever Kelly. Depression was starting to become one of John’s greatest enemies in life. Constantly there, like an itch you can’t scratch. 

For a long time, John was really in a deep hole. He was having dark thoughts, feeling empty and useless. But as time went on, he started to heal and get help for himself. 

While John was on the path to moving forward and recovering, Kevin McMahon was acting out of character himself too: rude, short-tempered, and upset. While Kevin was stuck alone in his room with his own feelings and thoughts, his poor mother was coming up with ways to help him. But Kevin wasn’t really open to any of her ideas, and she couldn’t force him to be open to them. So she went to John and asked if he could come over and try to speak some sense into Kevin, to help him. John agreed. 

One day, John came over and went upstairs to Kevin’s room. He asked Kevin if they could talk, but Kevin, who didn’t even know John was there, became angry. He told John to get out of his house and that he was not welcome there. But no matter how hard Kevin pleaded and begged John to leave, he refused. Instead, John decided to talk to Kevin through the door, reassuring and guiding him. Kevin was forced to listen because John wouldn’t leave him alone. 

Eventually, Kevin realized that what John was saying was right, and that he needed help. That’s exactly what he got. With both friends trying to heal, they decided to create the JCK Foundation to help people in need. It was a forever gift and remembrance to John Clever Kelly, the boy who was an angel on earth.

Mental health is something that many people struggle with, even if they don’t show it. After hearing John and Kevin speak, I realized that there are people who understand exactly what I’m going through and that there is always hope, even when it doesn’t feel like it. I hope everyone who attended the assembly remembers that no thought is too dark to share, that asking for help is one of the bravest things a person can do, and that no one has to face their struggles alone.

Learn about the JCK Foundation at www.jckfoundation.org.

Isabella Deans, 14, is a student reporter in the Rockland Central School District. She writes for several news outlets in the region.