Preparing to respond to mental health issues in the classroom

Meet 2006 grad Amy Zero, a counselor for the past 10 years at Rock Island Academy, located a couple miles from campus. The Illinois School Counselor Association recently named her K-8 School Counselor of the Year.

Zero, originally from Oak Lawn, Ill., has been instrumental in reshaping the school counseling approach in the Rock Island-Milan School District, according to a district spokesperson. She has helped pioneer new strategies that better serve students and their families.

But that’s not all. For the past few years, Zero has been working with Augustana’s education majors, providing training on how to respond to their future students who may be experiencing a mental health crisis or chronic mental health issue.

“With the growing prevalence of mental health needs among our youth, it is beyond important and beneficial for emerging educators to receive youth mental health first aid training,” Zero said.

“When educators are trained in the signs and symptoms of youth living with mental health needs, prevention and early intervention can be the peak of our response,” she explained. “We can then work as a team — teachers, counselors, social workers, administrators — to seek the necessary resources, supports and services that students need to begin their wellness journey.”

Zero’s work is funded by the Schultz Family Foundation. She leads the Youth Mental Training for Emerging Educators at Augustana, with the support of Katie Hanson, director of field experiences for the education department.

The workshop targets education majors prior to, or at the beginning of, their student teaching experience. They are not only trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in youth, but also offered an action plan for responses to mental health crises.

“When we first started working with Amy, the work- shop was optional and usually happened during or after student teaching,” Hanson said. “But we listened to our student teachers in seminar discussions and realized they would benefit more from being aware of the myriad mental health issues of their students before they step foot in the classrooms.”

Today, Augustana education majors are required to complete the training workshop in their junior year, while they are also spending a minimum of 30 hours observing and teaching in local classrooms. This all happens before they start student teaching in their senior year.

Hanson says participants especially appreciate how relevant and pertinent the workshop strategies are in terms of creating a safe classroom environment.

“Amy’s expertise and excellent teaching create a welcoming learning space,” Hanson said. “Students are free to ask questions about specific experiences they have had and often stay after class to get her advice on next steps if they are interested in the counseling field.”

Zero identifies three important takeaways from the training:

• Self-care for educators is not just a trend or a buzzword, but is crucial to sustaining personal mental health and wellness, job satisfaction and a thriving career in the educational field.
• Building relationships with students to the point where you can notice changes in behaviors, appearance, thoughts and feelings is essential. It’s a key first step to identifying students who may experience mental health challenges.
• Remember that you are never alone as educators. Rely on members of your school team for help, especially when a student reaches crisis level.

"As I tell Augustana students during our training, it is no longer a matter 'if' your students will have a mental health crisis, but 'when' you will experience it for the first time," Zero said.