Many students remember the late start day a month ago where students got to sleep in, but the real reason for the late start was that it was the first step in the new Mental Health Initiative taking place at Pace. Upper School Counselor Mrs. Ellye Millaway spearheads the initiative. “The goal is to rethink student mental health from a more proactive and preventative lens” she says. Upper School Counselor Mrs. Amelia Harmon says, “My hope for the Mental Wellness Initiative is that it normalizes taking care of your mental health in the same way we take care of our physical health.”
While mental health has been a concern nationally in recent years. Mental health is typically associated with times of stress or anxiety, but there is more to it. Mrs.Harmon says, “Mental health does not only apply when things in our lives are stressful, but also when we are happy and relaxed, and every day we should be using skills to manage our stress and our emotions.”
Mrs.Millaway says “we want to help the whole student population starting from pre first all the way to 12th grade.” Resources like the Student Advisory Board and Counselors are always available, but there needs to be more focus on Mental Health as a whole.
Since next fall will mark the beginning of the initiative, the administration will implement some new strategies. Next year the freshman class will have a dean and a counselor for their class. The dean and counselor will work together to do programming and class meetings during assembly that focus on mental health.
Another improvement will be the revision of the transitions program. Many know the transitions program as an outdated program focused on drugs and alcohol, high school study strategies and adjusting to high school, but there hasn’t been a focus on mental health will is arguably one of the relevant issues. “The program will include social and emotional skill building, and it will have a new name.”
Students are meant to have more support than just their dean and counselors. “All teachers will be equipped with the tools to help students so that if somebody has a problem, they can go to the person they already know and trust,” Mrs. Millaway says.