Trails Groups in Schools: Mental Health Access for Teens
Help me give my students fuel and incentive for participating in Trails' mental wellness groups, and tools for finding stress relief and positive, productive coping strategies.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Gasper's classroom raised $211
This project is fully funded
My Project
My students are hand-selected as incoming 6th graders who need to develop skills to cope with the stressors of middle school. Often, these students have the potential to succeed but are anxious, depressed, unmotivated, and unprepared to cope with the home hardships, social stressors, or daily setbacks of their young adult lives. By participating in my 9 week group using TRAILS to Wellness social/emotional curriculum, they learn to identify strong emotions, understand where they are coming from, learn to catch check and change unhelpful thoughts, and learn a variety of coping skills to "ride the wave" without engaging in dangerous or unhelpful behaviors.
When you are 11 or 12, it is hard work to confront your unhelpful thoughts/behaviors, let alone try to change them.
This requires regular participation, energy, engagement, consistent focus, and often some rewards to keep showing up and doing the hard work.
Snacks (like chips) help support the energy level needed. We also have a final celebration that includes items awarded by raffle for good attendance and demonstration of skills. This is where students can win fidgets/stress balls, comfort items (blanket), etc.
During gratitude practice in the final sessions, group members have said: "I am grateful for all the members of this group", and "I am grateful that the school cares about mental health".
More than a third 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
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Gasper and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
