SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – In August, a virtual training event will help educators with mental health training at their schools.
“One of the things in this multi-tiered system is there are really two foundational pieces that we talk about and at the very base is the community-family partnership. You can’t do anything about us without us; families are key; they are huge components. Within those best practices that I keep mentioning,” says Lisa Dierking, the School-Based Mental Health Coordinator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The training is a partnership between the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The two-day training covers a variety of topics for educators when it comes to mental health in Missouri Schools. Districts must send teams of at least three staff members who have been identified as knowledgeable about mental health services and available support. From nurses to teachers and administrators, those who take part in the training will work to help their districts assess their current school mental health systems, identify and set up goals, and create plans to use in their schools.
The goal is to help educators provide a positive school experience beyond the typical ideas of mental health.
“A lot of time to that point, when we think school-based mental health, what comes to mind? Therapy and behavior are usually the topics, but when we say school-based mental health, what we hope people understand is. They do, by the end of the training, that mental health is a continuum from mental illness to mental wellness. So, we want people to understand that as well,” says Dierking.
The two-day training covers a variety of topics for educators when it comes to mental health in Missouri Schools.
“We spend a lot of time talking about how to communicate and where to go for that information. Where are the resources to create documents that might be helpful in that communication,” says Dierking.
Districts send teams of at least three staff members who have been identified as knowledgeable about available mental health services and support. From nurses to teachers and administrators, those who take part in the training will work to help their districts assess their current school mental health systems, identify and set up goals, and create plans to use in their schools.
“One of the values of this training about this work is bringing people around that collaboration and what we have in common and what we can do kids around these common goals,” says Dierking.
The goal is to help educators provide a positive school experience beyond the typical ideas of mental health.
Since DESE started the training, 44 school districts have participated so far, and another 13 districts have already signed up for it this August.
If you would like to learn more about the training, click here.
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