On Air Now

Galesburg and Knoxville sophomores getting trained in mental health first aid

A program that will help students recognize the early signs of mental illness and addiction in their peers is coming to Galesburg and Knoxville High schools this month.

Teen Mental Health First Aid is still in a trial period nationally, which Galesburg and Knoxville being two of the first 70 schools in the country to complete the training.

Stacy Brown, VP for Behavioral Services with Bridgeway says they’ve long done similar training for adults in the past.

GHS Assistant Principal Mindi Ritchie says if the program is able to help one student then they consider it a success but they have much greater aspirations.

“We’re actually hoping to provide enough information for the research component of this so that we can determine the efficacy of this program so that it can be used across this country like it has been where it started in Australia,” Ritchie says.

Ritchie says District 205 is implementing a comprehensive mental health plan for the district, which includes Bridgeway counselors currently at Lombard and Churchill, with one recently starting at GHS.

She says their teachers are increasingly trying to approach the needs of the whole child, whereas in the past the focus was more directly education-focused.

Both Brown and Ritchie underline the successful partnership the schools and Bridgeway have had in addressing mental health in the schools.

Ritchie says the Knox County 708 Board of Mental Health has been a tremendous help as far as funding these kinds of programs.

January 13 is the first day of training at GHS and KHS will start the next day on January 14.

They had to choose one grade level for the training and settled on 10th graders.

They figured freshmen weren’t ready and sophomores could carry the training with them for most of their high school career.

Recommended Posts

Loading...

Share Contact

contact-chris-mcintyre-qr-code