The Value of #CCSDcares Cultivating the Achievement, Resiliency and the Empowerment of Students BY BARBARA P. JACOBY
The Cherokee County School Board and superintendent of schools, like their counterparts across the nation, during the 2018-19 school year recognized an alarming trend among students: rising rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal ideations and suicide. They knew, as people who care deeply about all students, that our school district needed to respond and to respond quickly. They understood that, although great work had been accomplished to improve our schools and school district, more must be done. From the drafting of their community-based Blueprint, strategic five-year plan, which was embedded with not only language, but also action steps to ensure students feel safe, welcomed, included and valued, came the school board’s support of a new initiative, now known as #CCSDcares. A committee made up of stakeholders, including students, parents, community partners, teachers, support staff and school and district leaders, reviewed local data and national expertise to craft recommendations focused on better meeting the social, emotional and mental health needs of students, and fostering a more welcoming school culture. Their work also addressed CCSD employees’ needs, with the understanding that their well-being directly impacts their ability to successfully serve students. The recommendations were presented to the school board in the summer of 2019. They were numerous, with specific and broad goals ranging from identifying a staff person to lead these initiatives to redefining counselor responsibilities to allow more focus on counseling to improving student strengths in self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision-making, selfmanagement and relationship skills. The school board’s initial investments included appointing a program director (a role now held by Ben
Lester, a longtime educator and past Teasley Middle School principal), the hiring of the school district’s first two mental health counselors and training staff to better identity and refer to these counselors any students showing signs or risk of depression, self-harm or suicidal ideations. The school district developed a system for schools to identify students most at risk of self-harm or suicide. This system provides at-risk students with counseling support, monitors their well-being and ensures they feel safe and supported at school … and that they and their parents or guardians have access to community resources, including mental health counseling. Since the initiative began, it has expanded to include bringing recently retired top educators in to work part-time with the mental health counselors and school counselors in developing #CCSDcares curriculum unique to our school district (this curriculum is posted on the CCSD website at www.cherokeek12.net/ Content/ccsdcares) and a districtwide employee wellness committee. This summer, our staff will develop a survey unique to our school district to gauge students’ needs, specifically in regard to improving school-related skills like resiliency; this survey will replace the vendor-created survey used in the past. Over the past three school years, #CCSDcares has saved student lives and made important and lasting positive impacts on students, employees and families, thanks to the school board’s dedication to innovation and leadership to best serve our community’s children.
Barbara P. Jacoby serves as chief communications officer for the Cherokee County School District, and is a CCSD parent with four children.
TOWNELAKER | June 2022
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