Saturday, May 1 is the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month, but Wasatch School District is focusing on issues surrounding emotional wellness year-round.
Parents Empowering Abled Kids (PEAK), a local organization, is sponsoring the fifth annual PEAK 5K run on Saturday, May 1. Proceeds go toward the school district’s special education program. The race starts at 9 a.m. at the Wasatch High School Football stadium. Runners can register for the race online or the day of the event.
Wasatch County School District Special Education Director Ben Springer said they've been supporting and partnering with community resources all year long. They're also affiliated with Utah First Lady Abby Cox's work to focus on social and emotional learning in school.
"With Wasatch Behavioral Health and our contact, there is Trudy Brereton. She's really been helping advocate this ‘TACO BOUT IT’ campaign that is using a taco to talk about mental health during this month of May, and there's tee shirts and funny swag you can order that will help support mental health awareness,” Springer said.
Wasatch High School counselor Jen Rosskelly has offered training all year on mental health first aid.
"Those are just training adults, you know, helpful adult educators on how to respond when someone's in a mental health crisis, safely and effectively."
Springer said keeping schools open and providing structure and routine for kids has been the most critical way to address emotional and social wellness.
"Really proud of where Wasatch County School District is at with our community, with the county health department, with our school board, the strongest support we believe that we provided the community and students, was coming back to school full-time in the fall,” he said. “Kids wearing masks, it's not been an issue for kids. I think it's been a small vocal adult folks that have an issue with it. But the kids have just been remarkable wearing masks. Of course, there's been a lot of stress and anxiety associated with the past year. But a lot of that we believe has been curtailed by being in school and providing that structure and routine."
Springer is excited to restart work at the Wasatch Family Education Center, which was started in 2019 but took a year’s hiatus due to COVID-19 impacts.
"Which we will do online and face-to-face options for families struggling from any range of mental health, from anxiety to autism spectrum disorders to even doing homework and tutoring,” he said. “So, we're excited about that. A lot of what we're talking about are preventative measures and what we focused on a lot of in the schools is also the responsive measures. And so that's what we're hoping – to really balance those out."
They will use academic data to determine how best to distribute any additional CARES Act or American Relief Act funds from the state or federal governments.
"And we know it is going to be complicated because we have a lot of diverse learners in our community, and that's what we're working on right now, is collecting the data during the school year what student populations, what communities were affected and how,” Springer said.
Springer said some students fared well during the past year while others struggled and will need additional resources. Academic data is coming in now, and they'll use it to make funding allocation decisions in the coming months.
