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Returning Modesto-area students struggling with mental health. How districts plan to help

Modesto Bee - 7/22/2021

Jul. 22—Aheli Patel said she thrived in school her freshman year. She loved participating in extracurricular activities, moving through a full schedule and interacting with friends and teachers on campus — until COVID-19 sent students home.

Patel, a rising junior at Enochs High School, said she experienced more anxiety and stress during remote learning. She lost motivation.

"It was not something that was easy to hide," Patel said.

Students across the country will return to school this fall carrying trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic, unrest from witnessing racial injustices, and health anxieties as the Delta variant spreads. Loneliness and isolation have contributed to a nationwide rise in anxiety and depression, especially among young people.

The well-being of students and teachers will be a focus of local schools this year, said Christine Sisco, assistant superintendent of instructional support services at the Stanislaus County Office of Education. Districts across the county have used pandemic relief dollars to add clinicians and will train teachers to help students who are struggling.

"There's a lot of planning going on behind the scenes," Sisco said.

Modesto high schoolers told The Bee they hope school leaders will listen to them when designing mental health supports to fit their needs. They want teachers to recognize all they've lived through and acknowledge how their mental health connects to their academic performance.

"We're so eager to change," Patel said. "We're so eager to get that help."

Funds will add clinicians, expand training

Many schools are expanding on programming they started before the pandemic. "We have scaled up everything that we're doing," said Heidi Lawler, assistant superintendent for educational services at Turlock Unified School District.

TUSD has doubled its licensed mental health clinicians to 10 districtwide and hired nine credentialed counselors for elementary schools, Lawler said. The elementary counselors will talk with students through a less formal process than a clinician. The goal is for these counselors to destigmatize mental health issues by becoming people students are used to interacting with around campus, she said.

The district's professional development day in August will train all teachers on trauma-informed strategies, Lawler said. Educators will learn to recognize why a student may act out because of anxiety or trauma and how to respond appropriately.

Teachers will complete additional training on TUSD's social-emotional curriculum, she said. The district's K-6 schools use this curriculum to build students' resiliency and social skills.

Modesto City Schools offered Youth Mental Health First Aid training to school psychologists, counselors, nurses and teachers this summer through Sierra Vista Child and Family Services, said Mark Herbst, associate superintendent for student support services. The district expanded its roster of student assistant specialists, family support specialists and behavioral clinicians.

"I think that we will be able to provide services much more quickly than we have in the past," Herbst said. "I think our teachers will be more responsive and more aware."

He urged students and parents to communicate their needs. "Once we're aware of a problem, we've got a system to address it," Herbst said. "I would say communication is the key."

Students want teachers to reach out

High school students told The Bee they want teachers to play an active role in connecting them to mental health care, checking in on them and educating them on mental health issues.

During the pandemic, Modesto City Schools publicized mental health resources and added an informational hotline, Public Information Officer Becky Fortuna said. But many students still see a stigma associated with calling a hotline or reaching out for help.

"Teenagers just don't work like that," incoming Enochs High School senior Michael Balerite said. "You have to ask teenagers and youth how they're doing."

Students expect this to come naturally once they're in the same room as their teachers every day again. But trained teachers will make a difference, they said.

Gracie Roberts, a rising senior at Beyer High School, said she would appreciate teachers recognizing signs of deteriorating mental health without students asking.

"I don't always feel comfortable going up to my teacher and saying 'Hey, I'm really struggling, I can't really do this right now,'" Roberts said.

Student feedback

During the pandemic, Roberts said she saw teachers ask students what worked for them and make changes based on their feedback.

"It genuinely made classes so much better," Roberts said.

Aletha Harven, a California State University, Stanislaus, professor who studies student mental health and academic motivation, said schools need to demonstrate they value students' needs if they want them to regain academic motivation. School leaders should involve students in conversations about their mental health and wellness to be effective, she said.

"In addition to acknowledging what students have been through, we have to ask them: What is it that they need from us?" Harven said.

School psychologists and counselors are important, she said, but schools should also give students the tools to manage their own mental health, through classroom discussions or schoolwide workshops.

"The bottom line is for educators to show that they care, to demonstrate that they care," Harven said, "that they truly do want all their students to succeed and have access to the same opportunities."

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