STUDENT WELLNESS

One thing that became clearer during and following the pandemic is that student mental wellness is key to student achievement and overall well-being. Although students overall held their academic ground, social connections suffered and there has been a significant increase in the need for mental wellness support in the past few years. It’s no surprise that support systems is one of the three main pillars/areas of focus in the district’s new Strategic Plan Framework. Fortunately, the groundwork for mental wellness support was laid years ago in TTUSD schools. The middle and high schools already had “wellness centers,” therapy certified counselors, and partnerships with wellness support nonprofits, such as Gateway Mountain Center (see Big Life Local Peter Mayfield, page 14) Adventure Risk Challenge, Aim High, and more. Glenshire Elementary also recently added a wellness center.

At the high schools, the TTUSD Wellness Program is designed to support high school students with access to community supports that address physical, mental, emotional, and social concerns while offering activities to increase their resiliency and overall well-being. The Wellness Centers provide a comfortable setting for students to drop-in during their breaks to ask questions, get support, or just relax. The Centers are furnished with cozy bean bag chairs, couches, art work, music, games, art supplies, and healthy snacks to make it a fun place for students to hang out. Wellness Centers are both a place for refuge for students and a place for group help meetings. Coordinated by Wellness Manager, Kim Bradley, the centers are a collaborative effort by the school district, community partners, and youth to improve the health of TTUSD high school students. In addition to the Wellness Centers, TTUSD has increased the number of counselors available to students, and counselors are able to connect students to county services for more long-term care at low or no cost.