The students of today are the leaders of tomorrow. To change the way we approach and talk about mental wellness, we need to connect with schools and enable the youth of the community to talk openly about mental wellness.
Information for other departments:
Schools in the Coalition
What role they play:
Through the initiative, schools help educate and open lines of communication not only with mental health professionals but with their own peers and families.
Why they are integral to the Coalition’s success:
Changing the approach to mental wellness is not accomplished overnight. Schools within the community are vital to laying the foundation for long-term growth, change, and acceptance.
The impact they’ve had:
Within the first year of providing support in the schools in our own community, we were able to serve 600 students within our buildings. We’ve seen 56% of the students who received support increased their GPA and 73% of those students decreased their disciplinary infractions.
“If a child is struggling with a severe mental health issue or any type of social or emotional issue, they’re going to struggle being able to pay attention in class and staying focused on their academics. We have data to show that if we are addressing students mental health issues they are going to do better in school, they are going to have less behavior issues and their grades are going to go up.”
BROOKE LARSON | HAMILTON SCHOOLS MENTAL WELLNESS
Start the Initiative In Your Schools
Check Back Soon For Your Specialized Toolkit
We compiled all of our findings and resources to help other schools or school leaders develop their own plan for addressing mental wellness in school. We want to share what we’ve learned to use in your own initiative plans.
- School Event Planning and Programming
- Outline of Mental Health Professional Position
- Key Findings and Resources
Quick Tips
From Brooke Larson
Start By Understanding Your Situation
Start by looking at what the student needs are, collecting data, doing some type of survey and following that with a group talk about what resources you have access to, and what partnerships you need to strengthen or put in place.
Bring the Initiative to the Community
Through the journey in mental wellness within the schools, we had been frustrated that not many parents show up to our mental health parent nights. We decided to bring mental health specialists to events where families can learn about the services available to their children in a very non-threatening way. Create safe spaces and learning opportunities to engage the community where they are to make them more comfortable and receptive of your message.
Create Community Connections
When you face a challenge or problem, reach out to other mental wellness agencies and organizations and talk through those problems and make those connections. The organizations we approached have been really willing to work with us and provide the support to our students.
Is Mental Wellness Addressed in Your School?
Now is a great time to start
We have heard so many positive responses for these efforts, I hear from parents all the time and it's so refreshing that people are understanding of the mental health issues that my student is struggling with and there is someone there to support.
See the full impact of the initiative on a community