A new art club is seeking to help students who are grieving the loss of a loved one.

“Our goal is to hopefully provide some support and empathy for students who are going through a grieving period,” art teacher Toni Rogiero said. “Ideally what would happen is that a student who is experiencing a loss would complete the form that we’ve created that asks them a little bit about their beloved one that they lost. We will take some of that information and craft that into a handmade keychain, bracelet, or necklace.” 

The new club’s name, Metal Mulisha, was created by Rogiero when she came up with the idea of the club. 

“The club is rooted in using metal to create jewelry, so it was just a punny name that I came up with at some point down the line,” she said.

The club’s kickoff meeting will be after school on Thursday in Room 209, a date chosen primarily because that day is National Children’s Grief Awareness Day. 

“The bigger picture here is that I want the students who are grieving to be able to look back and say somebody cared for me enough to make this, and it is important to me now, it helps me remember my loved one,” she said.

The idea originated from Rogiero’s personal experiences with grief. It also was driven by students in her classes asking to make something to remember the loss of a loved one. 

“It is driven from the loss of my father, who was a jeweler, and who was able to pass down certain mementos down to me that I hold near and dear to my heart,” she said. “Throughout my past few years here, because of my own experiences, I have connected a lot with students in my classroom who have also lost and were grieving over a parent or a grandparent or some sort of caretaker.”

Rogiero wants to help grieving students feel comforted and heard. 

“Grief is something that I’ve dealt with throughout the years, and it is an extremely strong mental struggle to have to try to get over and navigate,” she said. “I’ve realized not a lot of people know how to support or talk to you about grief because they haven’t been through it.”