For DonorsFor Applicants

Ryan Yebba Memorial Mental Health Scholarship

Funded by
user profile avatar
Yebba Family
$1,900
1 winner$1,900
Open
Application Deadline
May 10, 2025
Winners Announced
Jun 10, 2025
Education Level
High School
2
Contributions
Eligibility Requirements
Education Level:
High school junior or senior
Field of Study:
Mental health

Ryan was a beloved son, brother, nephew, and friend, lost to suicide at the young age of 24. Ryan was a precocious and empathetic child. He could be mischievous at times, often curious and impulsive. He was an avid reader of anything non-fiction and could hold conversations with the articulacy of most adults at a very young age.

Ryan was prone to anxiety as a child and developed mild motor tics. He received a diagnosis of ADHD and Tourette’s Syndrome at the age of 7. Throughout his school years, counseling and therapy was sought for Ryan as he began to experience bullying and rejection from his peers. Ryan tried hard to fit in, both in and out of school but was often met with ridicule and rejection.

As he grew older, he attended high school and found a group of peers that accepted and loved him, but he struggled with some learning disabilities that made it difficult to focus on academic achievement which led to further distress.

For his parents, the mental health field for children and adolescents proved to be difficult to navigate.

There were little resources available and the process to find the right fit in a counselor and the extraordinary cost of sessions was frustrating and discouraging. Ryan’s struggles continued as a young adult and he did his best to find success and happiness, enlisting in the Marine Corp, working in construction, and becoming independent but his feelings of hopelessness and despair intensified.

This scholarship seeks to honor the memory of Ryan by supporting students who are passionate about pursuing a career in mental health treatment.

Any high school junior or senior who is interested in going into a mental health field may apply for this scholarship if they’re devoted to creating a positive social change and progress in our schools.

To apply, tell us how you have advocated, or will advocate for progress and social change regarding bullying and harassment in K-12. Also, tell us why you are interested in pursuing a career in mental health and how you intend to streamline the now convoluted process of obtaining the appropriate treatment options for children adolescents struggling with mental health and bullying.

Selection Criteria:
Ambition, Drive, Impact
Published September 9, 2024
Essay Topic

Tell us how you have advocated, or will advocate for progress and social change regarding bullying and harassment in K-12. Also, tell us why you are interested in pursuing a career in mental health and how you intend to streamline the now convoluted process of obtaining the appropriate treatment options for children adolescents struggling with mental health and bullying.

400–600 words

Winning Application

Taryn Claassens
The University of AlabamaAcworth, GA
One hurdle young people face is developing emotional intelligence, managing their own emotions, and being aware of other people and how they may feel. As a person with ADD with sensory issues and anxiety, my school environment was unbearable, especially during COVID. The COVID environment was stressful enough; the kids were worse. The environment was right out of a page in Dr. Zimbardo’s book on social psychology. I began to get sick and depressed, and I went home a lot. I had to learn coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety to do better for myself and survive school. "Mind Full" was born from my journey through depression and anxiety. It has become a mental health initiative in our schools in Cobb County, Georgia. The “Mind Full” program supplies charities and school counselors with art therapy kits for K–12 students and patients. We use recycled, easily sourced items to supply most of the materials in the kits. I wanted the materials to be easy to source and low-cost, so anyone could do it at home or school. The purpose of offering integrative therapy kits is to provide a tool to allow the student to articulate feelings or emotions that are difficult to verbalize, which improves well-being. In my opinion, many students have difficulty identifying and articulating their feelings. The kits are designed to aid school counselors, teachers, and therapists working with K–12-aged students in conjunction with other treatments or to help identify high-risk students. Additionally, older students benefit from stress and anxiety relief through learning outlets of expression. I aim to keep students in school and provide them with a means to express thoughts, feelings, stress, and anxiety. Most of the school counselors we supply use them in small groups and individual sessions with students in the school environment. My other goal with Mind Full was to work on the premise that empathy and emotional intelligence can be learned through awareness and education. On the same note, destigmatizing mental health works the same way. While we are learning empathy, we are also destigmatizing mental health by creating a more compassionate and aware environment. With those goals, my kit materials are gathered, curated, and made by high school students. We get our volunteers through school clubs and announcements. Students earn community service hours by participating in kit preparation workshops where they learn about Mind Full’s purpose and mission and about having empathy for others. We work alongside Sources of Strength (SOS), and all my workshop leaders must go through SOS training as well. Mind Full crystallized my desire to major in psychology in college. My goal, therefore, is to go to a research university. I plan to obtain music and art therapy certifications after I graduate from college to use in conjunction with counseling treatment plans. My dream is to destigmatize mental health and teach people coping mechanisms that can be done with minimal resources. Bringing active programs into schools that focus on creating emotional intelligence creates a more supportive environment among students. I hope that it will reduce bullying as students become more aware of others. My ultimate dream and something I am working towards is for Mind Full to go nonprofit and spread to different high schools. The high schools, in turn, supply the local schools around them. Mind Full helps schools flag students for care earlier than usual. My website (mind-fullproject.org) lists resources that are free for immediate care. Students spend most of their day in school. Having a school committed to a mental health program also provides a more supportive focus on getting a student's help sooner.

FAQ

When is the scholarship application deadline?

The application deadline is May 10, 2025. Winners will be announced on Jun 10, 2025.