Gabby Camargo (12) received the Rising Star Award on Dec. 4 for her dedication to the Peer Assistance Leaders.
The Rising Star Award acknowledges students within SDUHSD who made significant impacts on the community and have strong academic performance after facing personal hardships. Camargo’s initiative is a plan to integrate mental health first aid training into the PALs program.
“The first response training [is similar to] if you think about an EMT coming to an accident; they have to know what are [the] responsibilities,” Angela Willden, PALs adviser, Honors Chemistry and AP Chemistry teacher, said. “They are not going to perform surgery right out on the street, but there are things that they can do to help that person make it to the surgeon alive. First responders are teachers, or even friends of people who are in a mental health crisis. You need to know what [you can] do to get that person to a mental health professional safely.”
Camargo believes the training is essential to improving the PALs program.
“I wanted PALs to be stronger and better equipped, mainly because most of the time, students turn to other students when in need of help when it comes to mental health instead of adults,” Camargo said. “When you turn to another person your age it can almost be dangerous because most kids don’t know what to do in those situations. For the PALs to be trained on how to better help the people around them, I feel like our program can be better and our students at Torrey Pines can be more supported.”
PALs as a resource is underutilized by the students, according to Camargo.
“I want more people to feel comfortable reaching out to PALs because our program, we’re supposed to always be there for you and I feel like not a lot of people are aware that we even exist,” Camargo said. “I want more people to know that they truly are supported and if they ever need anything, they can always come to PALs and we’re always going to be there for them.”
Camargo was first considered for the Rising Star Award nomination by Tamara Rey, an administrative assistant. She noticed Camargo met with Principal Rob Coppo often to plan the new mental health first aid program and brought her name to Willden, who supported the idea. Later, Willden submitted the official nomination, which Coppo selected for the award.
“I love having her in PALs,” Willden said. “She’s super passionate; PALs is not something she’s doing because it looks good on a college resume. She has very personal connections to mental health and she knows it’s really important for young people to be open, educated and willing to talk about mental health issues so that they can get the help that they need instead of struggling in silence.”
Camargo’s personal experiences with mental health are what motivate her work as PALs vice president and other endeavors.
“I’ve struggled with my mental health a lot throughout my life because I’ve had a relatively rough upbringing, so that’s what drove my passion to help teenagers and adolescents with their mental health,” Camargo said. “I plan on studying psychology or adolescent psychology, so that I can someday be a therapist and help people with their mental health.”
Willden admires this aspect of Camargo.
“She’s one of those that has definitely experienced a lot of ups and downs, both in school and out of school, and it’s made her a stronger person,” Willden said. “She’s a great example for how you can let your challenges shape you for the better … it’s great to have a model of someone who’s really embraced taking on challenges and making the world better.”
