When Ridgewood High School Italian teacher Giovanna Gianfortone’s son, Joey Portanova, took his own life last year after struggling with his mental health, the community rallied around the teacher and her family to show support.
Now, with the help of her students and fellow staff, Gianfortone is working to ensure that students struggling with their own mental health issues know that they have that same support, before it’s too late.
Last month, Gianfortone launched the school’s first ever Mental Health Awareness Week, a campaign filled with activities such as raffles, a Walk-a-Thon and educational presentations that gave students a staff a chance to learn about mental health issues and donate to a scholarship fund in Portanova’s memory.
Portanova was 25 when he died in March 2018. He had sought treatment, medication and support from his family and professionals, but was unable to overcome his feelings of hopelessness, said his mother.
“He was nervous, anxious and had suicidal thoughts from the age of 12,” Gianfortone said. “He was always trying to help himself, but eventually he lost hope, and I don’t want these kids to ever do that.”
She hopes to help others who are fighting the same battle to hold on to hope, especially within the walls of Ridgewood.
“Joey had a lot of support and got great help in this community,” said Gianfortone, whose son was attending a day treatment program at Lutheran General Hospital at the time of his death. “But he lost his hope, and once that was gone it was the end.”
By creating this campaign and scholarship, Gianfortone hopes to educate students and staff that they can be open about mental health issues and concerns, and also to create opportunities for students struggling with their mental health to chase their dreams.
Gianfortone said she finds peace in the fact that her son was able to chase his own dreams. He attended art school at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, landed a job in advertising and moved to New York City.
By creating a scholarship in his memory, Gianfortone hopes that a few students from Ridgewood who have fought their own battles with mental health will be able to accomplish their dreams, too.
“Hopefully his death will save a few lives,” she said. “That’s all I can hope for.”
For one student, Anna Bidnik, Mental Health Awareness Week has given her an opportunity to educate students on mental health issues, and heal from her own trauma while working toward a career in trauma care.
Bidnik, a senior, lost her own father to suicide in 2016. She watched her father struggle with mental health issues her entire life, and has battled her own depression and anxiety.
She said the week provided an opportunity to open up and feel a bit more accepted and welcomed among her fellow students, who she said didn’t always understand what she was going through.
“This really hits home for me because all my life I have struggled with suicidal tendencies,” said Bidnik. “I feel like people used to look down on me or look at me as crazy, I was always made fun of for it. But now I think there’s been a shift, people are starting to understand.”
Bidnik was able to visit classrooms in her own school to educate classmates on mental health issues, options for treatment and support and to share her own experience. Now, she is working toward bringing those talks to other high schools and colleges in the area.
That is definitely part of Gianfortone’s mission.
“It’s a disease, like cancer. There’s medication and there’s treatment. Sometimes people get better but sometimes they don’t,” Gianfortone said.
During the week, students were invited to share messages of hope on posters throughout the school, or in digital messages that were displayed on TV screens in classrooms. On Sept. 13, students and staff were invited to participate in a moment of “instant impact,” when all classes paused for an opportunity to make a donation.
One of the fundraisers was T-shirt sales, which raised more than $700.
Bidnik helped organize sales, set prices and reach out to school sports’ teams for support of the shirt sales. During Mental Health Awareness Week, they sold yellow T-shirts with a blue turtle, Portanova’s favorite, on them. The shirts featured Portanova’s signature and the slogan “Come out of your shell and be mentally well.”
Principal Chris Uhle recently commended one of the students who, with the help of her mother, raised $1,200 for the scholarship fund.
Aoife Lyons, a senior, became involved with Mental Health Awareness Week to support Gianfortone, but said she was disappointed with the turn out for the Walk-a-Thon and felt like she needed to do more.
So, she and her mother donated a black Coach crossbody bag, selling $10 raffle tickets. The raffle raised $1,200, which was all donated to the scholarship fund.
“I haven’t struggled with mental health issues myself but it’s something that affects everyone and it’s so important that we talk about it and support each other,” Lyons said.
Lyons and Bidnik both said they’ve seen a shift in the way mental health issues are discussed in their student body already. Students are being more open and more respectful when discussing individuals with mental health issues, they said.
More than $4,000 has been raised in Portanova’s memory. Later this year, a scholarship will be created and given to one, or a few, students who have overcome their own battles with mental health.
Taylor Hartz is a freelance reporter.
