Why we need to talk about youth mental health

Supporting mental health for our students and youth is a crucial part of our education system. Mental health has a significant impact on a student’s academic performance, social interactions, and overall well-being, and unfortunately mental health challenges have skyrocketed among children and teenagers. 

It is estimated that one in five children ages 3-17 experience a mental disorder in a given year, the most common of which are ADHD, anxiety problems, behavior problems, and depression. And in 2021, 42 percent of high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless regularly for at least a two-week period that they stopped doing their normal daily activities.

COVID-19 disruptions impact youth mental health

When schools closed in March 2020, no one knew how remote instruction and limited access to student support services would impact students. The disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to have significant, long-term impacts on a variety of youth outcomes. Early research indicates decreased rates of focus, attention and sleep, and increased clinginess, fear, and irritability among youth.

The pandemic and school closures also disrupted school-related supports and services that are fundamental to children’s development and well-being. A recent study surveyed 1,504 U.S. parents to determine the impact of the pandemic on the social-emotional well-being and educational needs of their school-aged children during the 2021–2022 academic year. Results indicated that:

Compared with pre-pandemic levels, teenagers are more likely to experience persistent feelings of distress or malaise that interfere in their lives. They are more likely to think about suicide and more likely to attempt it.

The Guardian

The majority of parents (83.5%) reported a school-related need, with 57% reporting mental health challenges and 77% reporting learning supports and enrichment needs. Parents reported their child’s highest priority needs to be for tutoring, socialization, increased instructional time, managing stress, and physical activity.

Not only is suicide the third-leading cause of death for youth ages 15–19, but one in four adolescents age 12 to 17 have had a substance use disorder or a major depressive episode in the past year.

While the pandemic disrupted normal routines and social interaction, our community has also experienced a mass shooting and a destructive wildfire in recent years, making it even more critical for schools and parents to prioritize mental health support for our youth.

How we are supporting the mental health of BVSD students

One of the most promising mental health interventions is school-based services. Within BVSD, students have access to counselors, Mental Health Advocates, and other engagement specialists for social-emotional and behavioral support, student achievement and crisis intervention, individual and group counseling, and referrals to external resources. To expand BVSD’s ability to support students and their families, Impact on Education has:

Another important element of support is educating students and their families about mental health and reducing stigma. Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in supporting their children’s mental health.

Many students may feel ashamed or embarrassed to seek help for their mental health concerns, and many parents don’t know how to communicate with their children about mental health. By providing mental health training and educational resources for students, families and BVSD staff, we hope to help reduce this stigma and encourage students to seek the support they need.

“Schools, families and teens themselves have an important role to play to address this crisis and they are eager to find tools that can make a difference.”

Mental Health First Aid

Next month we are hosting a free mental health panel discussion for parents. In partnership with BVSD, Centura Health, Comcast, and UnitedHealthcare, Impact on Education will gather clinicians, BVSD educators and administrators, community health professionals and people with lived experiences, for “A Community Conversation: Supporting the Mental Health of our Youth.” Panelists will discuss the current mental health risks facing youth, techniques for communicating with children about their mental health needs, resources available to parents, and more.

Join us on Wednesday, April 12 >>

Building a better future

Impact on Education is working to raise both the awareness and funds needed to address youth mental health as we would any other physical illness. Mental health issues are increasingly prevalent among children and teenagers, and we can all help create a community that prioritizes the mental health of our youth.

By helping students feel safe and supported at school and offering support to those most likely to positively influence someone at risk, we’re bringing mental health out of the shadows.

Browse BVSD’s mental health resources
https://www.bvsd.org/parents-students/health-and-wellness/mental-health

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

Staff Spotlight: Katie DiMercurio

Katie started working with Impact on Education in May 2022 to support our fundraising team and she’s been instrumental in helping us engage more supporters and expand the reach of our work. We’re excited for her to shift into a new role on the team this month – Program Director – where she’ll manage our existing programs and investments, identify new opportunities, and monitor their impact.

Why Katie supports public education

Katie believes it is important to be involved in a meaningful way in her community. “Public education has the potential to be a great equalizer in our world,” she says. “It gives students from all different backgrounds chances and opportunities. Impact on Education is vital to ensuring that kids continue to have those opportunities to succeed and grow into amazing humans.”

Katie spent six years as an elementary music school teacher in Arizona and Colorado and got to play and teach kids every day. She says it was an amazing start to her career, but she ended up moving toward working in nonprofits because she wanted to be able to do more for her whole community. She moved back to Colorado in 2013, receiving a Masters in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management and beginning to work with human services nonprofits.

How her fundraising experience will help build strong programs

Katie is looking forward to providing support for educators and students across the school district. Her background mixes teaching and planning experience with fundraising and relationship management – a unique blend of skills that will drive our programming.

Katie’s classroom experience combined with her organizational skills and collaborative approach makes her the perfect fit. We’re thrilled to have Katie guide our programs and investment decisions. The support we’re offering to students and schools right now, from early childhood education to Wellness Centers to career readiness, will benefit from her skills and experiences.

– Allison Billings, Executive Director

Supporting and encouraging youth is where Katie’s heart lies. She’s passionate about making a difference in her community and specifically in the lives of young people. This career change allows her to go back to doing just that.

More about Katie

She enjoys traveling (her husband is a pilot!), exploring nature, spending time with their two kitties, and working on never-ending house projects.

Ask her about
Teaching and playing music, what book she’s currently reading

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

How a scholarship is helping this BVSD graduate build an engineering career

We proudly awarded Shannon Blanco with the inaugural Earl & Barbara Bolton Scholarship in May 2021. The $5,000 Bolton scholarship is renewable for up to four years, contributing $20,000 toward the college education of each recipient.

Shannon was planning to pursue biomedical engineering and the Business & Engineering Women in Technology program at CU-Boulder. We checked in with her two years later to see how the scholarship is supporting her education. 

What led you to apply for the Earl & Barbara Bolton Scholarship?

In high school I did a lot of extracurricular activities and volunteering. I really liked the values of the Boltons and I found that I aligned with them a lot. The Bolton Scholarship really values service and through college my goal is to help others by working in the biomedical field.

Learn more about the history of the Earl & Barbara Bolton Scholarship >> 

What are you involved with so far on campus?

Outside of classes I’m working in the soft tissue engineering lab on campus, which I got into through the CU Summer Program for Undergraduate Research. I work on 3D printing biomaterials like bone and cartilage. I’m in the biomedical engineering society and plan on joining another club this year – either the women engineering society or the mechanical engineering society.

I’ll be studying abroad in Rome this May and then participating in cancer research at Anschutz Medical Campus this summer! I’m also involved in club soccer.

What have you learned about yourself and your studies?

The most important thing I have learned is: failure is good. You’re going to face failures along the way and you shouldn’t see it necessarily as a drawback, it’s just something you have to work on and overcome. I failed my first statics test and I thought, “I don’t know how I’m going to pass this class.” But I was able to not get too down about it and I met with my professor. I worked super hard and was able to finish the class with an A. 

“Never let your failures set you back, keep plowing ahead.”

Shannon Blanco, 2020 Bolton Scholarship Awardee

How will this scholarship support your future?

To me, the biggest thing a scholarship provides is support. Not only do college students receive financial support, but it’s like having a mentor – someone else is there to help make sure you can get through and graduate.

What advice do you have for someone going through the scholarship process?

Apply to everything! Even if you don’t fully meet the requirements, it’s always worth applying. Also, reflect on your own values before you apply. You want everything you are saying to sound reflective of you and what you want to do in the future.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I am extremely grateful for Impact on Education and their support for me in college. I really hope they continue to support other college students in the future!

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

Funding mental health and student well-being

Immediately after the Marshall Fire, mental health professionals from surrounding school districts came to BVSD to work with impacted students and families. During this time, it became apparent that providing students with ongoing mental health support during the school day was the most effective way for Impact on Education to support their recovery.

Since January 2022 we’ve worked closely with BVSD staff to continue providing this additional level of support, which includes:

BVSD’s first wellness center

At Monarch High School, where 1 in 10 students was impacted by the Marshall Fire, a Wellness Center was created to support students in August 2022. Staffed by a full-time counselor, the Wellness Center provides students a safe place to recharge and speak with a trained professional during the school day. 

Wellness Center Impact
August – December 2022

How Mental Health Advocates are supporting students and families

Mental Health Advocates (MHAs) focus exclusively on mental and behavioral health, supplementing what BVSD school counselors can provide. Within BVSD, MHAs:

The intensity of mental health concerns and the time required to provide support and intervention varies dramatically from case to case. The additional MHAs ensure the schools impacted by the Marshall Fire have the intensive layer of mental health support needed, and expand the district’s capacity to respond to mental health needs.

Mental Health Advocate Impact

August – December 2022

Our funding priorities

Impact on Education is committed to providing an elevated level of mental health support for all students, especially those affected by the Marshall Fire. Meeting these three goals would allow us to serve 11,698 students at 12 schools across BVSD:

  1. Scaling the Wellness Center program by replicating the model to offer it at 5 BVSD high schools
  2. Retaining four MHAs supporting through the 2023-24 school year
  3. Providing mental health training and educational resources for students, families, and staff

Join us to ensure students have mental health supports available during the school day.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

December 2023 Update:
EFAA release their second annual Community Well-Being Dashboard that captures the most recent data available for Boulder County on issues like poverty, income, employment, wages, food security, housing stability and family homelessness. Take a look:

How much does it cost to live in Boulder County?

Impact on Education exists to provide support and resources to the students overcoming the greatest obstacles. We work to raise both awareness and funds to eliminate the economic and learning barriers facing our students.

Right now, everyone in our community is experiencing increased costs for food, fuel and other basic necessities. Rising prices mean families across our community are struggling to make ends meet. Every school in the Boulder Valley School District includes families facing financial challenges, and the more people who recognize this, the more we can help those in need.

The cost of living in Boulder County

The federal poverty line for a family of four is $30,000 annually. While the threshold to qualify for BVSD’s free and reduced price meals program is considerably higher at $51,338, it’s still less than half of the estimated cost of living in Boulder County. The Self Sufficiency Standard, a measure that calculates how much income a family must earn to meet basic needs, is $107,462 for a family of four in Boulder County.

One way we’re able to identify students and families in need is through the Boulder Valley School District’s free and reduced price meal program.

Free and reduced price meals

Within BVSD, students receive free meals regardless of their income if:

Students may also qualify for free or reduced price meals based on their household income. For the 2022-23 school year, 25% of the BVSD community – 7,180 students – qualify for free or reduced price meals:

What this means for BVSD students and families

We are committed to ensuring that every student has access to the same opportunities regardless of uncontrollable factors like their economic status. Enrollment in BVSD’s free and reduced price meal program, and families impacted by the Marshall Fire, are two ways we’re able to identify students who need additional support.

But how many BVSD families don’t qualify for free and reduced lunch or other benefits and still struggle to make ends meet?

BVSD administrators, educators and staff often come to Impact on Education when they’re unable to meet student needs. We continue to explore how we can effectively and discreetly identify and offer resources to all BVSD students and families that are struggling financially in Boulder County. Our strong partnership with BVSD ensures we can provide direct resources that enable our schools and educators to support students.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to nearly 30,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

Why our Marshall Fire support continues

In early 2022, we began supporting the immediate and long-term recovery of the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) students and educators affected by the Marshall Fire. Our work has provided:

To see a full summary, please visit our Crisis Response page.

Prioritizing mental health

Immediately after the fire, mental health professionals from surrounding school districts came to BVSD to work with impacted students and families. During this time, we saw that providing students with mental health support during the school day was the most effective way to support their recovery. 

We worked closely with BVSD staff to continue providing an additional level of support. Impact on Education quickly enabled BVSD to hire four additional Mental Health Advocates (MHAs).

The new MHAs were hired in the spring of 2022 to support BVSD’s most impacted schools. They provided over 130 consultations and direct support to 93 families and 359 individuals and directed families to additional resources from Impact on Education, BVSD, and community partners, including:

Our partners with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy shared that six months after a disaster is often when the financial and emotional realities begin to sink in. Knowing these important moments would happen over the summer break, we allocated funding to ensure two MHAs could work over the summer to support 330 students.

Providing support during the 2022-23 school year

Mental Health

The MHAs continue to provide services at our most fire-affected schools. They provide students with consultations, family support, individual counseling, and support groups. MHAs also support the district Trauma Response teams and facilitate Resilience in Schools and Educators (RISE) sessions for educators and staff.

Financial and academic support

Early in the school year, we learned that families were continuing to experience or experiencing new financial challenges. We worked with BVSD to provide a way for families to request additional support, and are providing funding to cover the costs of school meals, transportation expenses to and from school, free virtual tutoring, and after school care.

Our work is not done

We know the needs of our community will continue and change through the 2023-24 school year. We are currently working on multiple ways to continue expanding the mental health services and resources available to both students and their families.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

Staff Spotlight: Ali Cortez

Our Community Partnerships Manager, Ali Cortez, has been involved with Impact on Education for many years. Her first foray into our work was attending our gala, then known as Razzle Dazzle, in 2018. She started volunteering with us soon after, helping us plan future galas and special events.

After the Marshall Fire, our staff team of four was working hard to support everyone impacted throughout the BVSD community. Ali raised her hand to lead a key project in January 2022 that we came to call, “Comfort Kits.” She did everything from finding an available warehouse, to managing donations from JanSport, the Boulder Bookstore, AAA – The Auto Group, and Grandrabbit’s Toy Shoppe, to managing over 40 volunteers who helped assemble and distribute the Comfort Kits to over 900 students.

Having volunteer support in the weeks after the Marshall Fire was an important part of our ability to respond swiftly to the needs of our community. It also helped us realize that having a staff member focused on building community partnerships would be a great addition to our team. We created a new Community Partnerships Manager role that spring and were thrilled when Ali submitted an application.

Why Ali believes in our mission

After spending the majority of her career as a project manager in high tech, Ali always felt she was missing opportunities to give back to the community. She chaired numerous school fundraising events over the course of 10 years and fostered strong relationships within the community.

After volunteering with Impact on Education for four years, she knew that she could put her professional leadership, communication and relationship management skills to use at the foundation. Ali says, “I felt like I hit the jackpot when the Community Partnerships role at Impact on Education enabled me to shift into a career that would allow me to support the students in our local public school system.”

“Education goes far beyond shaping us as individuals, it helps us become better citizens and helps us build better societies. Our teachers guide our students through academics, while also cultivating a lifelong desire to learn and grow, in a safe environment. I am in awe of the teachers and staff in our District, and want nothing more than to support them in any way I can.”

Ali Cortez, Community Partnerships Manager

More about Ali

She’s a Colorado native, and head over heels in love with our beautiful State. She lived in the Bay Area for over 16 years, but knew it was time to come home when she married and had children. Her family moved to the Boulder area in 2016, and they’ve embraced all that Colorado has to offer. She loves the outdoors and enjoys skiing and hiking, but her favorite outdoor activity is cheering her kids on at their baseball and softball games. Ali and her husband have two incredible children, three cats, one english bulldog and two hermit crabs. There is never a dull moment in their home, and she absolutely loves it!

What makes her smile
Listening to my children’s laughter, spending time in the mountains, giant snowflakes on a winter day and spending time with my family. 

Ask her about
Her favorite Peloton instructor, her favorite sourdough bread recipe, and how music runs in her family.

Connect with Ali

3 ways we’re making a difference in 2023

Last year held many challenges for our community and our organization, but our commitment to creating opportunity for success, from preschool through graduation, supported BVSD students furthest from resources. If you haven’t already flipped through our 2022 Impact Report, we encourage you to see what we accomplished last year.

While we’re continuing to support recovery from the Marshall Fire, gearing up to recognize educators at the 2023 Impact Awards, planning our summer school supply distribution Crayons to Calculators, and preparing another round of our Academic Opportunity Fund, there are three important areas we’re excited to invest in this year.

1. Mental health and wellness

Our investment in four Mental Health Advocates supporting the schools most impacted by the Marshall Fire continues through the summer, and this spring we plan to offer educational opportunities for parents around adolescent and teen mental health. We’re also eager to start raising the funds to continue the Wellness Center at Monarch High School and expand it to BVSD’s other four large high schools (Broomfield, Centaurus, Fairview and Boulder) in the 2023-24 school year.

2. Career readiness

Over the next few months, we’re convening over 20 Career Readiness Academy workshops at three BVSD high schools. This program will help 60 students gain the skills, confidence and knowledge to pursue summer job and internship opportunities. Meanwhile, we are continuing to support the rollout of the GradPlus program. This includes identifying the improvements needed at BVSD’s middle and high schools to support career and technical education pathways and programs.

3. Early childhood education

This year our early learning program for incoming BVSD kindergarten students will shift to a four week, full-day program! We fund Kinder Bridge, now part of BVSD’s summer learning program, because access to early learning is not equitably available to all children who will enroll in the district. Kinder Bridge ensures 160 historically underserved students arrive prepared for school classrooms and excited to learn.

We hope you join us this year in supporting nearly 30,000 students in the Boulder Valley School District. Our work addresses systemic barriers and prioritizes those furthest from resources in order to equalize opportunity and bolster academic success.

Thank you for being part of our community and making investments to help us drive lasting change for students, educators, and our public schools.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

Our most impactful stories of 2022

As 2022 comes to a close we’re looking back on our most-read stories of the year. From our crisis response efforts after the Marshall Fire to introducing new board members and scholarship awardees, we’re sharing what inspired our community most this year.

We also encourage you to take a peek at our 2022 Impact Report to see what we’re most proud of. Read the report here.

2022 Year in Review

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

Schools and educators receive $245,000 in Academic Opportunity grants

Providing opportunity to BVSD students reduces the economic barriers to success. Our Academic Opportunity Fund provides resources to educators and schools through grants that enable all students to fully engage in learning.

Highlights of our second 2022-23 funding round

In the second round of the school year we received 65 applications to our Academic Opportunity Fund. So far we’ve been able to fully or partially fund 47 applications, distributing $68,000 to educators across the district, while we explore district and partnering funding options for some additional applications.

If you include our final round from the last school year, you’ll see that in 2022 we’ve:

What our schools are requesting

From the latest round, we received a variety of classroom- and school-based applications from schools across the district, including funding requests for:

A strong tie to our mission

The Academic Opportunity Fund directly supports our mission, allowing us to provide supplemental funding and resources to students and educators in order to expand what’s possible in education. 
Keep an eye on our Academic Opportunity Fund webpage for future funding rounds.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

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info@impactoneducation.org
303.524.3865

Impact on Education
721 Front Street, Suite A
Louisville, CO 80027

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