Spotting Students at Risk: The Educators’ Role in Preventing Suicide & Self-Harm Behaviors
Time: Two two-hour training sessions, one for certified staff and the other for ancillary staff.
Where: Evanston, Wyoming
For: Wyoming at Uinta County School District #1. All school staff. The first audience includes more educators (e.g., teachers and mental health staff), and the second audience includes more ancillary staff (e.g., food service employees and bus drivers). The second presentation will be customized.
Topic Description:
It was a teacher who first suggested to AnneMoss Rogers that her son, Charles, might be struggling with depression—and a teacher who later wrote the most heartfelt note after Charles died by suicide. Schools have what few other environments have and that’s an opportunity for genuine human connection. This is the most valuable currency in the education system. So how can we harness it to build a stronger culture of student wellness?
Based on the book, Emotionally Naked: A Teacher’s Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk—now translated into three languages—this presentation equips educators and youth leaders with practical skills to use their relationships with students as a powerful tool for prevention. Through compelling personal stories, real-life scenarios, video, and interactive activities, participants will gain insights and strategies to help reduce this growing threat to young lives.
Takeaways:
• How to spot students/co-workers at risk and what to say/do
• Case studies of simple shifts in teaching that promote wellness, and resilience
• The single most important mental health skill students need to learn
• Self-care for educators
• How substance misuse, mental health create a constellation of risk factors.
• Activities that can inspire conversation (Free quizzes, videos, conversation starters, and innovative ideas-this part is a favorite section.)
• Paying attention to your own mental health