By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Darke County Board of Commissioners celebrated National Teen Self Esteem Month by proclaiming You Matter. Commissioners Matt Aultman, Marshall Combs, and Larry Holmes were present.

May is National Teen Self Esteem Month and it’s a great opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of ensuring teens are self-aware and feel confident about themselves. Heather Suerdieck with Inside Out Coaching and Cooper Pierce brought awareness to the You Matter Project.

Teens struggle with the perception they have of themselves as 85 percent of the world’s population is affected by low self-esteem, and the You Matter Project has been created to impact students with a wearable reminder that reads, “You Matter” that these words that create empowerment, strength, and hope that each student can ripple positive thoughts through every aspect of their self-esteem and their life.

“Over the last year we have worked with businesses to donate bracelets, and after one year, we have done 8,000 bracelets for Darke County students grades k-12,” Suerdieck said.

The project is to create a difference where the world would be different “if we remembered that we matter.” It’s a matter designated to create self improvement were businesses, parents, and communities unite to create, through a common pathway reminding students that their journeys matter, their voices matter, their feelings matter, their thoughts matter, their futures matter, and they matter.

“When you get into school, social media, and other things happening in life, you get a lot of pressure. There are a lot of things that you have to look into yourself as a student and know that you and everything you do is important,” Aultman said.

He said sharing that message with other students on a daily basis is one of many things that will help make people feel a little more important and help remind them that they are worth a lot. Everyone should be made to feel that they matter, let these two words, “You matter” be the reminder that transforms struggles into success and debunk the “I am not good enough” stigma.

The commissioners proclaimed the week of May 22 to May 28 as You Matter Week in Darke County.

Following the proclamation, the commissioners held their Regular Session where they approved an intergovernmental agreement between the Board of County Commissioners of Montgomery County, Ohio Office of Emergency Management, and Darke County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

DCEMA assumes all financial responsibility for equipment purchased with grants to include replacement costs, maintenance costs, repair costs, storage fees, shipping and restocking fees, and any other costs or fees not otherwise covered by grants.

“This is for equipment that was received from the State Homeland Security Grant. It’s a regional grant in which Montgomery County is the fiscal officer,” Mindy Saylor EMA/LEPC Director said.

She advised it is for hazmat equipment, suits, helmets, and more. This agreement covers the requirements of the grant as far as use of the equipment, maintenance, and inventory requirements.

The commissioners approved the agreement.

The Darke County Board of Commissioners meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at their office located at 520 S. Broadway Street in Greenville. To contact the office, call 937-547-7370.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].