Claire Smout, junior

When junior Natalie Butler informed junior Claire Smout that BreakDown needed more people, Smout auditioned, liking how the program focused on peer mentoring.

“It’s a lot more influential. I know if someone was coming to my school to talk to me, I would really appreciate if it was another student and not an adult,” Smout said.

Being a part of the off-stage team, Smout goes to Union High School once a month to teach her peers about healthy lifestyle choices. Smout and fellow BreakDown members also have rehearsal every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The morning of the lesson, the team leaves for the school at 6:30 a.m. and gets back at around 2 p.m.

“Even after a lesson where a kid doesn’t say anything but comes up to me [later in the year] saying how the lesson actually did impact them is rewarding,” Smout said. “Being able to build those relationships with students has been really cool to see.”

Although the off-stage lessons are different from the on-stage performances, both teams require public speaking in front of many students.

“Being comfortable with public speaking and being a leader has been a really good, growing process for me,” Smout said. “It has really made me more of an outgoing person.”

At first, Smout was fearful to be on the team since she felt that she did not have experience or exposure to the topics they taught.

“I have never been a person who parties, and there were so many things that I didn’t even know coming into BreakDown. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to help, but now, not only have I been able to learn about the topics I didn’t know much about, but I can also see the use of those things in my own school now,” Smout said.

Although it is difficult for Smout to relate to some topics, BreakDown does is effective in informing the team about all the issues that are going to be talked about before going into the lesson.

“I just have to really do research to know the topic. If we’re talking about prescription drugs, I have to educate myself in that to be able to relate better with the students,” Smout said.

A few of the lessons Smout has taught this year surrounded topics like anxiety, self-image, prescription drug abuse, depression and suicide and healthy versus toxic relationships. Smout is grateful that BreakDown has helped her connect with struggling students.  

“[Because I] go to the school every month, there are definitely people who have come to me with big things,” Smout said. “One girl, in particular, was struggling with depression and suicide, but it’s cool that I get to go into her school and check up with her once a month to see how things are going. I can just be there for her but also get her the help that she needs beyond me.”