Our program serves high schools students with anxiety and depression, many of whom have been hospitalized for suicide. With social worker support, we have created a "comfort room" where they come one period a day to do academic work, check in with counselors, and feel safe and stable in school.
The students in our program are have been afraid to come to school, been bullied, felt isolated in other schools, and many are "over-age and under-credited" as their depression has often led to chronic school absenteeism.
But they are smart and want to be successful and are responding to our interventions. Our school district serves primarily low income students, so they are coming in with limited resources and our school cannot provide materials other than textbooks and classroom supplies. Our unique students need some unique items.
My Project
Our students are assigned one period a day for academic and social-emotional support. Three days per week students focus on academic tasks using the printer to print homework, essays, and classwork. For the other two days, students engage in pro-social activities like group games (Uno, Apples to Apples, Rubik's cube), individual calming tasks like making bracelets, using coloring books with colored pencils and markers, and practicing coping skills with the Tangle toys and stress balls.
Our comprehensive, surround-care approach supports students in both academic and emotional capacity. We use these resources to ensure that our students are on task with their grades as well as managing their mental health needs in a school setting.
Our program and classroom is literally saving lives by offering potentially suicidal, self-harming, depressed and anxious students a safe place where they can relax, share with like-minded peers, consult with a counselor and learn coping skills to deal with their difficulties.
We provide resources to support their academics as well- so they do not fall behind and can be motivated to engage in school.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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