CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – With the COVID-19 pandemic, and the life-altering changes it has forced, many students and teachers are dealing with situations they’ve never encountered before. This, when combined with additional traumas students may already be dealing with, creates a stressful situation.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System is responding with new and inclusive mental health measures for students.
At the School Board meeting in mid-September, Director of Professional Learning Tina Smith talked about new opportunities the school system is providing its faculty to learn how to help students through this unprecedented time. Smith also talked about new online resources to address the difficulties associated with virtual learning.
Clarksville Now spoke with Mary Gist, the director of Middle Schools, and Ashley Dale, lead school counselor, about this sensitivity training and new mental health resources.
‘Trauma-informed’ learning
All the teachers and faculty at CMCSS have been trained on “trauma-informed” learning, which basically means recognizing the signs of trauma and knowing how to deal with those specific issues and their corresponding triggers, Dale said.
But some of the signs are more difficult to recognize through a computer screen.
“It’s all based on relationships between teachers and students,” Gist said. “It is more difficult to build a relationship when you’re in a virtual community as opposed to a traditional one. But it’s a matter of taking the time to virtually get to know your students.”
Teachers have changed how they handle certain problematic behaviors, Gist said. Instead of responding with discipline, this approach teaches the teachers how to react, and how not to react so as not to make the situation worse, based on the trauma that student has been through.
One example from the new virtual world: students not turning on cameras.
“We’re all new at the virtual classroom thing, and one of the behavioral issues that has popped up is students not wanting to turn on their cameras,” Gist said.
“Even before we started, we encouraged teachers to not get hung up on that because some students may be embarrassed by the background that’s behind them. Some might stay muted because of things being said or shouted in the background of their homes,” Gist said.
Students can ask for help
For students who might need assistance with academic planning, need help mediating personal issues, or just want someone to talk to, CMCSS now offers a Student Self-Referral Portal.
“We have so much great information at the tips of our fingers, but the best part about is that our students can confidentially ask for help from their counselor,” Dale said.
While most teachers offer office hours for students who need an extra boost in understanding lessons or concepts, the portal is a tool geared towards prioritizing mental health and wellbeing. There is a contact list of all of the school counselors available, allowing students to further personalize their counseling experience.
There are also suicide prevention teams in all of the schools, Dale said.
The portal is available to all students in grades 3 through 12 – virtual or traditional – so they can independently coordinate any help they might need. Parents of students in kindergarten through 2nd grade can reach out to their child’s counselor, too.
“We know that there were big jumps for a lot of our students, but I think consistently our students were met with a friendly face whether it had a mask on it or not,” Dale said.
“Our teachers and our school counselors proactively call students, especially the ones where they know there are current or past issues. They call and get in touch with them just to make sure they’re doing all right,” Gist added.
Teachers and faculty are also able to refer students for personalized counseling if they’ve noticed concerning behaviors or practices that might indicate a student is struggling.