TL;DR:
- A continuation of the mental health conversation from Brian Faulkner.
- The importance and strategy for school leaders to take in regards to mental health.
Every time I think of this story, I get goose bumps. Why? It’s a perfect example of how we can embrace mental health and it is astonishing to know that when I took this video, my daughter’s coaches only knew her for about a month.
The compassion they showed will never be forgotten, and I am forever grateful for their human approach to mental health. They did not shy away from supporting my daughter.
Mental Health in Schools
I have reflected quite a bit over the last few months about what I want to accomplish with mental health in our school. It comes down to the fact that I’m not looking for the “next big thing” in helping our students and staff.
I simply want to create an environment where each person understands that they are in a school where no one will be judged by their mental health status. A school where kindness is a part of who we are and what we do. A school where each individual is allowed to be imperfect. I want to create an environment like my daughter’s coaches have created.
Continuing our conversations about how to support one another is a great way to improve our environment, and ensure our mental health is a priority. These conversations are crucial in our buildings. We can’t shy away from them. We need to get more children talking about mental health to ensure they can get it off their chests. Perhaps some children would be more comfortable if they got to speak with a child psychologist instead. This could be arranged and, hopefully, many children would benefit from it. Mental health needs to be spoken about more.
We have all struggled with something mentally. It’s important that we empathize with each other, and rally around all individuals.
We have all struggled with something mentally. It's important that we empathize with each other, and rally around all individuals. Click To Tweet
I’ve enjoyed writing about mental health and I look forward to continuing my conversations with other educators on how we can #EndTheStigma. Not only in education, but in life.
Please know that regardless of your position within a school, YOU MATTER! The impact you have on your learning community is significant. We are all in this together and the more we work in unison, the more our students and staff benefit, and this includes our mental health.
Keep being awesome.
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ABOUT BRIAN FAULKNER
Brian Faulkner is the principal at Heineman Middle School in Huntley School District 158. My focus has been simple from the very start of my career; give students what they need in order to be successful. I fully embrace teacher leadership and a shared leadership philosophy and look for creative ways our staff can collaborate, share, observe one another, and continuously improve their craft. Saying I love what I do is an understatement. I’m on a mission to make a difference in the lives of each member of our learning community. #team158
