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| Photo by Tim Goedhart on Unsplash |
In February’s AASA School Administrator publication, one article about the others jumped out. After reading it, I was compelled to share my thoughts and takeaways relative to our beloved community. The title, “Compassion in the Face of Trauma; A school system’s backing of children who are depressed, deprived and anxious may not be at first glance consistent with the ‘feel good’ theme associated with the Phenomenal Friday message, but bare with me as I hope you can see it as I do. This publication reaches a global audience of educators but as I read about the Anaheim Union High School District in Anaheim California, I thought, “yes, us too”. Although on the other side of the United States, the number of students experiencing depression, homelessness, anxiety, poverty is on the rise, like here in NJ. A growing number of students’ families are experiencing the despair of being homeless. Uncertain about where the next meal will come from. Additionally, students growing up in poverty are told by many well-intending adults “if you simply work hard you become anything you want”. This over simplification can cause damage without additional messaging and supports from a caring learning community. I am not interested in debating the issue at this time, yes technically speaking it is possible to achieve dreams through hard work, dedication, and grit. I am a supporter of growth-mind-set and therefore you do not have to take issue with me on the benefits of the great American dream. I came from a family where my sister and I were the first to reach the university. Both of us now hold doctoral degrees and benefits by improving our quality of life through education, work, and determination. I merely want to share that simply repeating “work hard and you can become anything you want” alone is not effective.
That stated, for a growing number of our students the competing hardships that too often lead to mental health issues is too daunting to simply “work hard”. I am a kid advocate at my core. I simply want every student regardless of the parents they choose, to have equitable access to high quality education, social emotional supports, and high quality professionals to help shape their path. We must acknowledge a few truths. Truth number one, your socio-economic status influences your opportunities. Truth two, growing up in poverty may make your path more difficult. (*but growing up with a lot of money, just enough money, some money may make your path more difficult). Everyone’s journey is potentially difficult. Third and most important, we must all become more self aware, emotionally intelligent, and skilled at helping others navigate the hardships of life. When I went to school as a young person, the things that happened at home that were troubling me stayed at home. Almost like a switch, we were expected to put our best self forward without excuse. This was a time when teachers and school administrators were right even if they were wrong. Educators of this era were not expected to be able to help navigate a complete emotional breakdown by a student on a regular basis. Educators did not focus on becoming culturally competent so they can better identify their own prejudices and preconceptions of those that are different. Instead, the student was expected to conform and follow the rules. The teacher taught and if the student wanted to learn great, if not…oh well. Today, if the students are not achieving we look to the teacher. Two very clear and linear paths, college or a trade, existed for the earlier generations. Employment in each path was not only possible, it was likely. Today, there are countless graduates with large debt and few prospects. There are over 7 million jobs available in the US as of July 2018. There are over 4 million Americans identified as unemployed. I told you this was a positive story remember… there are more jobs available when compared to the number of unemployed so that is encouraging.
Why is this so? That is the question that keeps me up at night. I would guess some of those out of work are experiencing currently or have experienced some type of mental health event at some point in their formative years. I would further guess that they did not receive high quality care that helped them recover and grow from the experience. Thus they are left unemployable.
Today’s students are experiencing stress and pressure that they are ill prepared to handle alone. According to a study by Renee Goodwin, a professor at Columbia University on depression found it on the rise among 12 thru 17 year olds. Increased from 8.7% of adolescents reporting depression in 2005 to 13% in 2015. Most disturbing, depression among our kids is most common among those with the least access to any health care, including mental health professionals. Students growing up in poverty are most vulnerable but depression can strike students of means as well. The number strongest risk factor for suicide is untreated depression among adolescents. Students raised by adults who lack education or employment are also likely to have their own untreated mental health issues are at risk to struggle.
Now, again back to why this is actually a positive story…In this California district, they are implementing ‘self-awareness training’. They are training their staff to implement compassionate, caring and self-aware strategies. They are teaching them to help students bring emotions out into the open and working through them. Their focus is on breaking students away from their default responses to negative emotional stressors and ‘reprogramming’ them to respond in a mindful manner. Helping students learn to hit the pause button and recognize their emotions before simply acting. Their training began with their administrative teams then throughout the student body. With a renewed focus on how to be more mindful in their interactions with others, on social media, in healthy friendships, exercise and healthy diets they are seeing a major decline in the students identifying as depressed. An unintended consequence is in that the staff also indicated feelings of improved wellness. They describe students who previously ‘exploded’ with negative emotions succeeding in ways previously un-imagined. This is a positive story because here in #MPSWC we are on a very similar journey together relative to social emotional learning. The various workshops led by our very own instructional coaches, I.e. Building puppets, as been a priceless beginning of providing a much more emotionally safe environment for our children. Students at the high end of achievement are benefiting as well. Students who have a drive and compulsion to succeed and achieve the highest GPA’s, or get into the University of their choosing, are also at risk for depression – and/ or anxiety disorders. The fact is simply, we all benefit from being more in touch with our emotional wellness. If we simply wait for their to be high quality mental health care access for all with magic solutions, we will most certainly become disheartened with disappointment. Instead, let us all work to be each others mental health supporters.
Be positive, be kind, be aware of your words and actions as they have power-
Have a great weekend everyone, recharge the batteries and enjoy the 3 day weekend!
SHOUT-OUTS
"A Bacon Bears shout out to Stephanie Muhlbaier and Kim O'Neill for running an excellent Jump Rope for Heart. This was our biggest Jump Rope fundraiser yet! Thank you both for your dedication and hard work."
~ Mike Coyle, Principal
"Melissa Castor is tremendous asset to our students and families at Lakeside. She is always looking for ways to get involved to help in our vision of providing the best education opportunities for students and staff. She recently attended Nurtured Heart Training and is part of the Crisis Response Team. She stepped up this school year and volunteered to case manage the BD class at Lakeside and the Thunderbolt Academy. Thanks Melissa for your dedication and positive approach to all of the issues our students and district are facing."
~ Steve Matusz, Exec. Director Special Services
"Thank you, Sandra Padro, for being so helpful. Sandra has been assisting our long-term substitute and continues to create materials that incorporate all modalities of communication. Her efforts are appreciated. ¡Gracias, querida señora!"
~ Bridget Borlak, Dept. Chair
"A Silver Run shoutout goes out to Shannon Nevico, Jennifer Defeo, Lisa Baran, Nina Crain, Amy Kimmel, and Tara Tapp for getting their students involved in the Valentine's for Veterans Project! Thank you for teaching our students to appreciate, acknowledge, and respect our veterans. Thank you for teaching our students gratitude!!!"
~ Eric Reissek, Principal
"A big Holly Heights shout out to Megan Rhubart. Megan has built a warm and caring classroom environment and built a positive relationship with each of her students. Megan's attentiveness to her students allowed her to identify a student that had developed a significant medical concern. We are fortunate to have Megan on our staff."
~ Steve Saul, Principal
"Here's a shout out to Doug Saul and Hollie Smith at Holly Heights. Doug has been pushing in to support Hollie's 1st grade class during Guided Reading this year and their teamwork is incredible. During the first year of implementation, Doug is able to support Hollie's work with 75% of her students on a daily basis. Their work is definitely going to pay off for those students."
~ Bobby Barber, Supervisor
"State testing is a huge event in the district and a lot of work goes on behind the scenes prior testing even starting. I would like to send a huge thank you to Camille Howard, Trish Curcuru, Kristen Fasolino, Amy Scull, Debbie Stowman, Arlene Jenkins, Valerie Cross, Kim Hallenbeck, Zach Wurcel and Kristin McManus for the countless hours they put in to make testing successful!!!!"
~ Pat Wulk, Supervisor
" A huge shout out to Dave Kahn and his law enforcement class for taking the initiative in creating classroom door ties for our safety and security plan. Not only did they make one for each classroom, but the students will be training the staff on its use. Having a retired law enforcement officer instructing our students has been amazing. Keep up the good work!"
~ Stephanie DeRose, Principal
"A BIG Shout Out to Casey Wilson and Sharon Wright for their continued support for all of the special education children in our building. They give hours of support to the children and their teachers to be sure the IEP is being implemented and the goals are being worked on and attained."
~ JoAnn Burns, Principal
Have a tremendous weekend!
Dr. G.
Dr. David N. Gentile
Superintendent of Schools
“Lead Learner”
@drgentile_mps (Twitter)
856-327-6001
#MPSWC (MPS World Class)
#greatdaytobeabolt
Published by Spike Cook, Millville, NJ
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