Map High School: Jazlynn Swanson finds her voice, takes steps to help others

The harmful effects of bullying go far beyond bumps or bruises. For Jazlynn Swanson, it stole her voice.

“I was pretty talkative until middle school,” she said.

Then the bullying started on the school bus – badgering, threats, intimidation.

She tried to let adults know what was happening but she felt like no one heard her.

“I felt like I was being ignored, so I just stopped trying to stick up for myself.”

And she stopped talking.

Feeling utterly powerless, she started avoiding school, and her grades plummeted.

“I stopped going to school when a girl on the bus said she was going to get her dad to beat me up,” Swanson said.

Then COVID-19 struck. At first, Swanson was happy to have an excuse to miss in-person school, but online learning wasn’t a good fit.

“I was depressed,” she said. “I isolated myself in my room. I didn’t care about anything. I just slept.”

But it was her freshman year, and soon it was time to return to classes at Lewis and Clark High School.

“Before I started in-person, I checked my grades,” Swanson said. “They were all F’s.”

On the first day back, she was too overwhelmed to make it inside the school. Making matters worse, all of her friends went to Rogers High School.

“Having no friends is really lonely,” she said. “You can’t make friends when you don’t talk.”

That year, Swanson was diagnosed with debilitating anxiety and selective mutism.

“Sometimes I wanted to talk, but it felt like a lump in my throat, and I couldn’t speak,” she said.

Her counselor at Lewis and Clark told her about Map High School, a specialized school for students dealing with mental illness, non-aggressive behavior, normal cognitive and communication levels, and who need an intensive setting. The capacity is 30 students.

“I thought I’d give it a try,” she said.

All students see a therapist at Map, and that one-on-one time helped Swanson feel safe.

“I started talking with my first therapist,” she said. “I felt heard. I felt like I could be myself here.”

Staff at the school watched the once silent student slowly blossom.

“She’s overcome a lot,” teacher Celena Breach said. “She’s worked hard on her mental health.”

A potentially derailing setback happened when her family was evicted from their home.

“Even when she experienced homelessness and food insecurity, she came to school,” Breach said. “She’s successfully completed some classes at NEWTech. She always puts her best foot forward.”

Swanson’s creative side emerged in this setting. She enjoys painting and took up crochet, making beautiful roses for students and staff, and her grades steadily improved.

“My teachers encouraged me,” she said. “Last year I got B’s in science, history and sewing. I really liked that!”

Speaking up in class took time.

“My sixth-grade teacher yelled at me if I made the smallest mistake,” Swanson explained.

Initiating conversations with her peers came a bit easier.

“I’ve made more friends this year than in my whole high school!”

Breach is proud of the progress this student has made.

“She’s so talented,” Breach said, “and she’s genuinely kind and compassionate to others.”

Swanson is enrolled at Spokane Falls Community College and plans to study occupational therapy.

“I like working with all types of people and making them comfortable,” she said.

The fact that she’s graduating still amazes her.

“I’m graduating on time with my class!” she said. “I thought I’d be a dropout because school had been so hard.”

Her teacher envisions a bright future for Swanson.

“She’s motivated,” Breach said. “At first, we couldn’t get her to stand in front of the room and speak, but now she’s a leader in the classroom.”

After struggling to reclaim her voice, Swanson said the hard-fought lessons she’s learned are lasting.

“I’m not letting people make decisions for me that I don’t want,” she said. “I let those bullies dictate my life, and I’m not going to do that anymore. I won’t let people push me around.”