Russo Is Waking.Our.World

Jes Russo, a sophomore at Fleetwood Area High School, was inspired to start an organization after listening to motivational speaker Josh Shipp at a Student Council conference in 2008. Ever since, Russo has been preparing to form her very own awareness organization.

W.O.W. is the acronym for Russo’s organization; it stands for Wake.Our.World. Russo’s plan is to “wake our world” to the secret depression that many Americans privately endure. W.O.W. is a non-profit, secular organization for all sorts of people.

Secret depression is when a person acts happy when he or she is with friends and family, but when the person is alone, he or she is sad and depressed. Russo calls this behavior a “front.” She has been fighting secret depression for four years and is finally prepared to go public with her feelings.

Says Russo, “My friends and family support me and W.O.W.  My mom helped me to make my video. Also, Mr. DeAntonio is helping to launch the organization.”

The plan is to spread word about her organization before it has even fully begun.  Russo would like to start meetings shortly, and when enough word is out, she will make t-shirts and hoodies to advertise the group. The first step, Russo believes, is helping people to understand what W.O.W. means so that public awareness can follow.

Russo says creating the organization has not been too hard. She has already presented her ideas to the FAHS Character Education group. 

“I hope to be welcomed to other schools in the future too,” says Russo.

FAHS Principal Michael DeAntonio gave his opinion on the subject: “I understand there is a lot of stress and uncertainty, and people are not as they appear. I’m glad Jes is so comfortable talking about her depression. The more you talk about it, the more you help yourself.”

If you are interested in helping W.O.W. and its cause, the first step is to simply spread the word about its existence and its purpose.

Russo concludes, “This world is a vicious circle of hate, and it’s time we wake our world.”