ARHS student group taking on body image issues

Above: With help from graphic design students, an Algonquin DECA group is working to spread “body positivity”. (Image cropped from tweet by @InTheMirrorRR)

It’s the time of year where advertisements for weight loss are everywhere you look. Which is why it’s a good time for a campaign being launched by a group of Algonquin students.

The group, Reflection Redefined, is seeking to encourage “body positivity” through a two week project aimed at fellow students and faculty:

Many members of the Central Massachusetts community do not understand the true meaning body image or the detrimental effects negative body image can have on teens.

It is our goal to shine a light on body image and to encourage body positivity within Algonquin Regional High School. We are students at Algonquin and the founders of Reflection Redefined. RR was founded early this school year as a DECA Public Relations campaign and is compromised of . . . events, informing, redefining and engaging students thoughts on body image, as well as an art show featuring local artists work.

The campaign will center around a two week project starting next week and culminating in an art show open to the public. The show will include student art, plus four special contributions from Charise Isis, founder of The Grace Project:

Charise is a highly recognized artist who photographs women who have chosen to have mastectomies in order to save their lives. Although many of her photographs are difficult to look at they convey a message of strength and have taught the women featured in them to love their bodies and feel confident.

The exhibition is scheduled for Thursday, January 21 at 6:00 pm in the Algonquin Art Gallery (room #C211).