Rockwood School District: Students, Staff Members Collaborate To Expand Mental Health Support, Resources For Rockwood Community

Press release from the Rockwood School District:

April 5, 2021

Rockwood School District is committed to addressing the social and emotional needs of our students, particularly during a time of uncertainty with the COVID-19 pandemic.Our district and school staff members are eager to listen to and collaborate with students as we all work together to find ways to continue to expand the support and resources for students, staff and families to ensure the safety, well-being and success of our entire community.An example of this collaborative spirit can be found at Marquette High, where students and staff worked together to create a new page devoted to social-emotional/mental health resources on the Marquette website. That page has now been replicated for the communities at all 10 Rockwood middle and high schools.“The students have made the biggest push to make it more easily accessible,” said Marquette school social worker Brenda Casey. “If someone is having a mental health issue, they need things to be convenient, and they need to have easy access to assistance. It really originated from the students.”Toward the end of the first semester, Marquette sophomores Christy Johnson and Kaitlyn Maloy proposed the idea to assistant principal Dr. Rick Regina for a new online hub where students could easily access the mental health resources available to them through Rockwood and community organizations.“Mental health has a stigma around it. Sometimes people don’t like to talk about it,” Maloy said. “I’m hoping that even if people don’t want to talk about it with their friends or counselors, they at least have somewhere they can go for help.”“We’ve had friends, even people we don’t really know, thanking us for helping get the site started,” Johnson added. “It has brought people together and also, hopefully, will help people out when they need it the most.” Students involved with the Marquette chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mustangs for Mental Health (M4MH) and the districtwide, student-created Mission Mental Health Awareness (Mission MHA) worked with Rockwood Executive Director of Student Services Dr. Terry Harris, Marquette administrators, Casey, school counselor Fran Kremer and social-emotional behavioral specialist Jacklyn Floyd to gather valuable resources for the site.The “Mental Health Resources” page can be accessed under the “Resources” dropdown menu on the home page of each secondary school website. A welcome page includes contact information for each school’s health and wellness staff, important hotline numbers and links to other valuable resources, all in one place.“We wanted to have one central location where you can go and get a resource a student might need for any sort of support,” Regina said. “It’s just one click away for a student who might be in need, have some questions or is just looking for a little guidance and support.”It’s just one aspect of Rockwood’s continuing efforts to ensure that students are able to find the help and support they need.As a result of the Mission MHA presentation to the Rockwood Board of Education on Feb. 4, the district’s Student Services Department has launched a monthly webinar series called “All In Community Conversations” aimed at supporting the mental and emotional well-being of Rockwood students.The first installment of the series is PDFTuesday, April 6, from 6-7 p.m. via Zoom and involves a “Signs of Suicide Trusted Adult Training” session from the CH​ADS Coalition for Mental Health. Community members interested in attending can register by clicking here.“We are partnering with organizations and community experts across the region to create opportunities for us to meet, learn from and deepen our connections with each ​other as we work toward mental well-being for our students,” Harris said. “We are hosting this series as a way to build connections between educators, students, parents and community members.”

Rockwood School District is committed to addressing the social and emotional needs of our students, particularly during a time of uncertainty with the COVID-19 pandemic.Our district and school staff members are eager to listen to and collaborate with students as we all work together to find ways to continue to expand the support and resources for students, staff and families to ensure the safety, well-being and success of our entire community.An example of this collaborative spirit can be found at Marquette High, where students and staff worked together to create a new page devoted to social-emotional/mental health resources on the Marquette website. That page has now been replicated for the communities at all 10 Rockwood middle and high schools.“The students have made the biggest push to make it more easily accessible,” said Marquette school social worker Brenda Casey. “If someone is having a mental health issue, they need things to be convenient, and they need to have easy access to assistance. It really originated from the students.”Toward the end of the first semester, Marquette sophomores Christy Johnson and Kaitlyn Maloy proposed the idea to assistant principal Dr. Rick Regina for a new online hub where students could easily access the mental health resources available to them through Rockwood and community organizations.“Mental health has a stigma around it. Sometimes people don’t like to talk about it,” Maloy said. “I’m hoping that even if people don’t want to talk about it with their friends or counselors, they at least have somewhere they can go for help.”“We’ve had friends, even people we don’t really know, thanking us for helping get the site started,” Johnson added. “It has brought people together and also, hopefully, will help people out when they need it the most.” Students involved with the Marquette chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mustangs for Mental Health (M4MH) and the districtwide, student-created Mission Mental Health Awareness (Mission MHA) worked with Rockwood Executive Director of Student Services Dr. Terry Harris, Marquette administrators, Casey, school counselor Fran Kremer and social-emotional behavioral specialist Jacklyn Floyd to gather valuable resources for the site.The “Mental Health Resources” page can be accessed under the “Resources” dropdown menu on the home page of each secondary school website. A welcome page includes contact information for each school’s health and wellness staff, important hotline numbers and links to other valuable resources, all in one place.“We wanted to have one central location where you can go and get a resource a student might need for any sort of support,” Regina said. “It’s just one click away for a student who might be in need, have some questions or is just looking for a little guidance and support.”It’s just one aspect of Rockwood’s continuing efforts to ensure that students are able to find the help and support they need.As a result of the Mission MHA presentation to the Rockwood Board of Education on Feb. 4, the district’s Student Services Department has launched a monthly webinar series called “All In Community Conversations” aimed at supporting the mental and emotional well-being of Rockwood students.The first installment of the series is PDFTuesday, April 6, from 6-7 p.m. via Zoom and involves a “Signs of Suicide Trusted Adult Training” session from the CH​ADS Coalition for Mental Health. Community members interested in attending can register by clicking here.“We are partnering with organizations and community experts across the region to create opportunities for us to meet, learn from and deepen our connections with each ​other as we work toward mental well-being for our students,” Harris said. “We are hosting this series as a way to build connections between educators, students, parents and community members.”

This press release was produced by the Rockwood School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.