After a year-long delay caused by the Pandemic, PAMHI successfully offered day-long professional development workshops at three rural school districts in August, 2021. These first sessions were offered as a pilot project focused on K-4 teachers. Attendees included teachers, administrators and mental health support staff at Bald Eagle Area School District, Huntingdon Area School District and Penns Valley School District. The five-person presentation team consisted of three mental health professionals and two educational professionals. A learning outcomes assessment of the three programs yielded exceptionally high levels of satisfaction with the workshop, the topics covered and the presentations.

About the PAMHI "Improving Student Mental Health" Workshops

In fall 2019, the Pennsylvania Mental Health Initiative (PAMHI) created partnerships with three school districts in Central Pennsylvania: The Huntingdon Area School District (Huntingdon, PA), the Penns Valley School District (Spring Mills, PA) and the Bald Eagle Area School District (Wingate, PA). After several meetings with the school district superintendents and other school administrators and teachers, the PAMHI Board of Directors developed a plan to work with those three school districts to create training for teachers of grades K-12. To begin the process, it was agreed that PAMHI would create a day-long workshop as a pilot project focussing on teacher professional development for K-4. The training was designed to help those teachers understand key concepts and strategies to support the mental well-being of their students and to help them provide the most effective learning environment for all students.

The outline for training includes the following topics:

1. helping classroom teachers and administrators to understand the mental health issues that can affect students;

2. concepts related to trauma-informed care for supporting students with mental health issues;

3. understanding mindfulness techniques;

4. providing teachers and administrators with resources and strategies to assist students with mental health issues;

5. strategies for creating peer support programs to address mental health issues and mental health education;

6. creating support programs for students who are transitioning back to the classroom after residential mental health treatment;

7. programming to support the mental health and well-being of classroom teachers who deal with the often complex and difficult issues of their students.

This training for school administrators, teachers and students was aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Healthy Schools Project with standards established for student mental health and wellness and for school employee wellness.

See: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/trainingtools.htm