When the Bulldogs host their last home football game, fans can huddle to learn about mental health. Centerville High School and the Isaiah Michaels Foundation have partnered for a “Kicking the Stigma” event on Friday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m.
Attendees are encouraged to visit the booth before and during the game to learn how to have conversations about personal mental health experiences.
“When the Isaiah Michaels Foundation reached out to us about this opportunity, we thought it would be a great opportunity to bring more attention and focus to mental health in our community,” CHS Principal Brian Bellew told WWN.
According to the press release, one in five adults in the United States will experience mental illness this year, with more than a million Hoosiers receiving a mental health diagnosis. However, 60% of people will never receive treatment. Stigma attached to mental illness can foster feelings of shame, isolation and fear that prevent people from seeking support.
“We think our willingness to share our experience with someone else can give strength and hope to someone that is experiencing the same thing,” said Jessica Cate, a mental health professional and the COO of the Isaiah Michaels Foundation.
The nonprofit is named in honor of Cate’s nephew, a Centerville student who died by suicide in October 2024. The foundation collaborates with other organizations as a connector of care to relay how prevalent mental illness is.
At the event, free “Kicking the Stigma” merchandise will be available while supplies last, with chances to win prizes. Reid Health will also be on site with T-shirts for the team to serve as a reminder that mental health is health.
“I hope our students come away from the event with the realization that mental health is something we all deal with in some way,” Bellew said. “If we can make it a little easier for a student to speak up when they need help, then I think this event has done what we hoped it would do.”
Beyond the event, Cate said CHS is starting a student-led chapter of Bring Change to Mind, a national organization that fosters conversations on mental health and care with high school students.
For more information, visit kickingthestigma.org.
A version of this article will appear in the October 14 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
