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Glenbrook District 225 board meeting addresses mental health and wellness

Mental health issues have deservedly come to the forefront since the forced isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Student wellness was a topic the Glenbrook High Schools District 225 board discussed at its Tuesday meeting. Board President Bruce Doughty said mental health has been an ongoing subject through the years, but "particularly in this time after going through the pandemic and a tragedy and all the other attendant stresses people are facing."

He didn't need to elaborate his points. In fact it was brought up late in the discussion that a candidate for Glenbrook South's 2021-22 Executive Board presidency, Tomoki Imura, based his platform on mental health awareness.

"Our main goal as an institution is to facilitate student learning," said Glenbrook South Principal Dr. Lauren Fagel. "Human beings can only learn when they feel safe. So protecting and supporting students' social and emotional safety and well-being is an essential condition that must exist for them to be able to learn."

The board invited a pair of former school psychologists to review school methodology. Dr. Lara Cummings is Glenbrook South's assistant principal for student services; Eric Etherton holds that position at Glenbrook North.

Cummings addressed Student Support Teams - comprising counselors, psychologists, social workers and deans - who meet weekly to identify struggling students based on referrals and to plan any intervention. Those could run the gamut from individual counseling to student assistance to family assistance.

She discussed curriculum programs, delivered by physical education and/or health classes, that pertained to suicide and depression. She said a six-week Social/Emotional Well-Being program was done previously this school year and will be repeated this weekend at Glenbrook South and after spring break at Glenbrook North.

"Every year we identify several students that never were on our radar," Cummings said of those potentially in trouble.

Etherton took over, starting with a conversation on Health and Safety Assessments, students who are a threat to themselves; and Threat Assessments, students who are a threat to others. He noted community partnerships with places such as the Family Service Center and Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook that provide support on a weekly basis.

Etherton cited two mental health reporting resources: Text-A-Tip and the Anonymous Concern Form. So far this school year 77 Glenbrook South students have filled out concern forms, he said, and 42 Glenbrook North students.

He said on April 14 at Glenbrook North staff from The Josselyn Center in Waukegan will train physical education teachers on mental health first aid, and that it will provide sessions for students this spring. The training will continue in the fall to all grade levels, with training eventually spanning all staff.

"Our goal is to provide a common language for our students and staff to have a better understanding of what mental health looks like, warning signs that they all need to be aware of, symptoms of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicidal ideation - but also, more importantly, what does one do if you find yourself in a conversation with another individual who's disclosing this information to you?" Etherton said.

After Glenbrook North Principal Jason Markey wrapped up the formal presentation with areas of growth such as incorporating social/emotional curriculum beyond the purview of physical education and health, District 225 board member Joel Taub brought up a good point.

"All the things you've presented tonight (are) to help people once they're in crisis," he said. "What I'm trying to figure out is how do we help people deal with their stress so they don't get to the crisis point. Maybe these PE classes and health classes have to have some component to them that involves dealing with stress - how to take a complex problem that they're going through, breaking it down into smaller pieces ..."

He was talking about various pressures to excel - getting the best grades, getting into top colleges, joining multiple activities that can stretch students thin.

Regarding an educational "gap," Fagel takes a compassionate approach as she looks to the 2021-22 campaign.

"The attitude of we need to hurry up and speed up and fix you is not going to help our kids," she said. "Instead we're going to celebrate that we're back, we're going to learn that we persevered, we adapted and we're going to take you where you are and go on to the next step. It's just different. It's not behind, it's not slower, it's not less than - it's just different."

In another angle dealing with anxiety as schools look to return to normal attendance and teaching methods, Etherton said some families are concerned about their students returning to a large school population after being remote for so long.

"I think, from my perspective, something that we should be looking at definitely here in the summer is trying to determine if there's ways we can get some students in that situation back in the building just informally a few times before the first day of the school year," he said.

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