Thirteen-year-old Roman Fehr has been an artist since he was old enough to hold a pencil. So, when his eighth grade class was given a multi-media social justice assignment, it was the perfect opportunity to mix his art with his school work.
“He draws all the time. His math homework is covered in art in the margins,” Roman’s father Trent Fehr said. “The math is pretty good, but the art is spectacular.”
Roman focused his project on mental health. He put together an animation video (hyperlink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C526l69Tabs) that shows a person dealing with depression.
“The message I was trying to get across was that everyone has their own inner hero, and you just need the strength from your peers to awaken that hero,” Roman said. “No matter how sad or depressed you are, there’s always going to be hope.”
The animation is made up of 1025 pictures – all drawn by Roman. It shows how self-care and peer support can help to fuel the ‘inner hero’ inside everyone.
“One of my main topics was you’re not weak for asking others for help,” Roman said.
His dad said they talk a lot about mental health around the house, but he isn’t sure exactly why Roman chose depression as the topic of his video.
“He’s a very curious kid, so he’s got lots of questions,” Roman said.
The final product of the video was better than anticipated, receiving thousands of views on social media after it was posted. It also received the praise of his teacher, classmates and his family.
“I knew it was something special right away. It gave me chills and kind of choked me up a little bit,” Fehr said. “We didn’t expect the depth that we saw in it. It’s such a simple message, but quite powerful.”
In the future, Roman hopes to take part in film festivals and to eventually make a career out of his artistic talent.
