The Yellow Tulip Project (YTP) Improved Wellness in High Schools

Anxiety. Loneliness. Depression. Today’s youth are suffering from an epidemic of mental health disorders.

Wellness. Community. Hope. These are the antidotes that Middle Earth stepped in to provide to local children by launching a new prevention-based mental health program in the Bound Brook and Manville School Districts in 2024 to address the mental health crisis among youth.

YTP is a mental health awareness club that gives students a safe space to connect, express themselves, and cultivate hope.

The club is designed to build community, teach healthy coping skills that students can use throughout their lives, and smash the stigma of mental illness.

Throughout the 2025-26 school year, the high school students in YTP:

• Created a Hope Garden at each school. Each tulip and flower planted serves as a symbol of hope — a reminder that small acts of compassion can help grow a more understanding and connected future.
• Explored mindfulness, teamwork and creative self-expression.
• Shared mental health awareness with their peers in the larger school community.
• Engaged in activities – art projects, games, journaling, yoga – designed to encourage students to open up and support one another.
• Brought therapy dogs into the schools to allow everyone to experience the healing effect of pet therapy.

In May, the clubs held Yellow Tulip Day Celebrations in Bound Brook and Manville that brought our community together to honor hope, resilience, and the healing power of connection. Guests wandered through the garden, shared conversations with students and community members, and enjoyed food, games, raffles, and a joyful celebration of togetherness. The clubs were excited to include our newest participants in the celebration. With additional funding Middle Earth expanded YTP this year to Smalley School to serve younger children. 

YTP has given our students important information about mental health and vital tools for maintaining wellness that will help them thrive into adulthood. Our staff saw tremendous growth in the high school students they served. Over the last two school years, they noticed the participants become more: confident to be themselves, cooperative with their peers, enthusiastic to share positivity in their school, and empowered to advocate for themselves.