Teachers, staff learn how to better support students’ mental health | Health

PADUCAH — Paducah Public Schools held a districtwide training on Tuesday to help teachers and staff better support student mental health ahead of the new school year.

As students prepare to head back to class in Paducah, educators across the district are shifting their focus, not just on academics, but also on emotional well-being. Sasha Black, a rising junior at Paducah Tilghman High School, said mental health is a real struggle, especially for high school kids.

“People struggle with [mental health] a lot, and just recognizing that mental health is a real thing and knowing how to cope with it, I think, is really important,” Black said. “When you’re stressed out all the time, like when you’re at school, it’s stressful. So learning how to manage it and just acknowledging that it’s a real thing and that it’s normal is just really important.”

The beginning of a new school year can be stressful and overwhelming, according to Jennea Harris, school social worker for Paducah Middle School. She said prioritizing emotional wellness at the beginning of the semester is especially important.

“[Students] go from having been established in their previous grade, and then they go home for the summer, go into a completely different routine, then they come back to school, and then they have to relearn a new routine,” Harris said. “Not just a new routine, but a whole new grade, a whole new set of teachers. So just really help them through that transition and understand that it’s OK to struggle with that, and that’s normal.”

The adjustment period is one reason Paducah Public Schools hosted its fourth annual professional development day, which includes classes on helping teachers better support students’ mental and emotional needs. There were also classes on building positive relationships between educators and students.

Jennifer Tucker, a special education teacher at Paducah Middle School, is among the many teachers who attended the training days. She said she, along with other teachers, considers what their students experience throughout the summer.

“Some of our children have had wonderful experiences, and then some of our children returned to us with trauma and with negative experiences,” Tucker said. “So workshops like today arm our teachers to be ready to deal with those situations in unique ways that maybe start their school year off on the best track to give them the best opportunities for success this year.”

Harris explained that understanding a student’s behavior is like an iceberg, where educators typically only see the tip of it. Still, there is so much more to unpack below the surface.

“There are so many life experiences, so many things that these children come to school with, that we have to kind of dig below the surface and see those things that really are the cause of the behavior,” Tucker said. “We have to look at what causes those behaviors, and that’s our responsibility as educators. We’re all educators in our district from the time that they step onto a school bus until the time that they step off that school bus in the afternoon.”

Tucker said it was uplifting to see that a majority of the participants in her sessions were not only traditional classroom teachers, but there were also paraeducators, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and many other types of staff who work in the schools. She said they chose to work in a school for a reason, and the connections they make with school kids daily are important for student-educator relationships.

“When we work with children and help them with their mental health needs, their educational needs, the foundation of all of it is building that relationship with the child,” Tucker said. “When you establish that relationship and there’s trust in you, we can move mountains.”

Black said that, as a student, it feels good when she feels seen by a teacher, and that it is important to remember that both students and teachers are trying to do their best.

“Sometimes just giving somebody a little bit of grace can really, just make their day better and their year better,” Black said. “So being seen, like when my teachers ask me if I’m OK, if I have a bad day, it really lets me know that they really do care about me; that they’re not just there to get money, or just get through the day. They want to make sure that I’m OK because they want me to learn the best that I can.”

Harris encouraged parents to check in on their kids and ask them how they’re doing. She said even if they make good grades or seem happy, sometimes they need a platform to express their needs and emotions.

“I think that sometimes parents become comfortable with just assuming that their kids are OK because they might seem happy-go-lucky, or they might do well in school, they might make good grades,” Harris said. “Sometimes they’re still struggling on the inside just because they’ve not necessarily been given that platform to express their needs. It’s not in, you know, a bad way, they just might not know how to do that.”

Harris also said that there is nothing wrong with addressing mental health issues. She explained that, just like getting treated for a sore throat or an ear infection, mental health is treatable as well.

“When you have mental health issues, just like you have physical health issues, there’s nothing wrong with seeking that help,” Harris said. “Going to a doctor in this case would be, you know, a therapist, a psychiatrist or a social worker. Just to get that extra help to get to a better place.”