A push for all students in the Upper Hunter to grow up speaking openly about their mental health is gaining traction as it expands beyond the region.
A homegrown positive education charity planted the seed in schools in 2016 after a young man took his own life in Scone.
Seven years later, Where There's a Will is working with more than 60 education providers in the region, spanning from early childhood and family day care, through to high schools.
The initiative is now expanding beyond the Upper Hunter to the Southern Highlands.
Founder Pauline Carrigan said it was about being proactive, not reactive.
"It is about character building, it is about having a growth mindset, it is about grit — which is passion and perseverance for long term goals — that is what we're teaching our children," she said.
The mantra has become second nature for students across the Upper Hunter.
St Joseph's Aberdeen student Tyler Kennedy said his HSC was one of the biggest challenges of his senior schooling.
"I learnt from Where There's A Will that it is OK to feel stressed, we can better ourselves through that because it is actually beneficial to us, it helps us perform better," he said.
The charity invited schools and community members from the Southern Highlands, Gunnedah and King Island to share what they had been doing.
Chevalier College counsellor Sarah Mangelsdorf said she was invigorated by the passion displayed by students.
"When we saw the students on Friday, it was then that we kind of thought 'that's exactly what we need down here'," she said.
"The strength is within the community embracing this."
First steps in the Highlands
The NSW government is supporting the Southern Highlands to take on the initiative.
Ms Carrigan was thrilled to see the program expanding and said the discussion with the Southern Highlands delegates "was on fire".
"It's going to be the communities themselves, like us, communities have got to say 'no more'," she said.
Tyler said there was a "bit of stigma" around mental health, but it was changing.
"Particularly with young men, not being able to talk about our feelings, the stigma that men don't need to talk about their feelings or have these negative emotions, but we do" he said.
"Positive mental health education has come from a backburner situation to the forefront of education."
Ms Carrigan said she hoped expanding on what the charity has achieved in the Upper Hunter would equip the next generation to change the conversation around wellbeing.
Tyler said it was already working.
"The stigma is present but it's quickly diminishing," he said.
"Seeing how something so tragic can turn into something so incredible that can be spread with so many people, it's been an incredible journey and I'm really looking forward to the future."
