Young people today are experiencing a mental health crisis unlike anything we’ve seen before. And it’s why Impact on Education is committed to establishing and expanding access to mental health support for Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) students during the school day.
At Monarch High School, where 1 in 10 students was
impacted by the Marshall Fire, BVSD’s first Wellness Center was created to support students in August 2022.
When we saw the impact the Wellness Center had on their school community we committed to opening five more and sustaining the one at Monarch. Impact on Education funding is now supporting six high school Wellness Centers at Boulder High, Centaurus High, Fairview High, Monarch High, Nederland Middle-Senior and New Vista High.
Wellness Centers provide students a safe place to recharge and speak with a trained professional during the school day. They are welcoming and calming spaces with soft lighting; relaxing music; flexible, comfortable seating; and sensory activities like fidget toys, puzzles and kinetic sand.
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.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Students need support to manage their emotional health. The mental health professionals can help teach them how, while the Wellness Centers give them the space to do so.
Social media, the pandemic, and climate change were just some of the external pressures students and parents cited during a Community Conversation on supporting the mental health of our youth. This panel discussion was hosted by Impact on Education in April 2023.
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 BVSD’s capacity to respond to mental health needs.
“Each person has a different starting point and a different social and community safety net, which means the same disaster affects each person differently.”
Center for disaster philanthropy
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.
Colorado Crisis Services
Statewide behavioral health crisis response system offering residents mental health, substance use or emotional crisis help, information and referrals.
1-844-493-8255 or text “TALK” to 38255 | https://coloradocrisisservices.org
Safe2Tell
Anonymously report anything that concerns or threatens you, your friends, your family, or your community. Submit reports any time, any day by calling the number below or submitting through their website or mobile app.
1-977-542-7233 | https://safe2tell.org
Rise Against Suicide
Helps youth at risk of suicide by removing the financial and social barriers to treatment, enabling them to find hope and healing. RISE offers free and immediate mental health therapy to youth struggling with suicidal ideation.
For help – call 720-263-0085 or email referral@riseagainstsuicide.org
To learn more about the program visit riseagainstsuicide.org
Parent Conversation Cards
28 questions to help make conversations with teens easier. Find time each day to ask a question that will get you both talking.
Download the cards as a PDF >>
NAMI Boulder
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Boulder County, is a nonprofit self-help support and advocacy organization of people with mental illnesses and families and friends of people with mental illnesses. NAMI Boulder offers family support groups for parents and caregivers of teens experiencing mental health issues every Wednesday from 7:00-8:30 p.m. via Zoom.
More Boulder County and Colorado teen mental health resources are available here:
https://namibouldercounty.org/resources/teen-resources
I Matter Therapy
Parents, caregivers or youth may receive up to six free online therapy sessions through this State of Colorado program.
https://imattercolorado.org
Out Boulder County
The youth program is Out Boulder County’s social and educational space for LGBTQ+ youth and their allies ages 11-18. The year round programming includes three weekly support groups, paid youth internships, annual programming, and youth centered community events. The calendar is always evolving.
https://www.outboulder.org
Natural Highs
Empowers teens as leaders around positive peer culture. They provide healthy alternatives to drugs and alcohol through offering workshops, drop-in classes, groups, presentations, sober events, and entrepreneurial and leadership opportunities for teens. Offers a peer mentor program, acudetox, and resources for teens, adults and parents about substance abuse prevention. Empowers teens as leaders around positive peer culture.
https://www.naturalhighs.org
NAMI Say It Out Loud
A free online card game that helps teens explore how they and their friends approach mental health and well-being.
NAMI Say It Out Loud >>
Open and Affirming Sexual Orientation and gender identity Support
OASOS collaborates with LGBTQ+ youth to build safer, healthier, more affirming schools and communities for youth in Boulder County through community engagement, pro-social support groups, one on one resource navigation, school based programming, advocacy, training, health education and leadership development.
OASOS Boulder County >>
BVSD Mental Health Resources
From bully prevention to sexual violence and assault, BVSD offers resources on a variety of mental health topics.
https://www.bvsd.org/parents-students/health-and-wellness/mental-health
During the pandemic, the Monarch High School library sat unused. Books sat dusty and uncatalogued and, perhaps more importantly, went out of date. Things got worse when the Marshall Fire struck—the Monarch community was disproportionally affected, and many books that students checked out were lost in the fire. As schools resumed in-person learning, Katherine Croasdale set to work fixing the library.
Tess Amer, a mental health advocate at Fairview High School, knows the pressures Boulder’s teenagers face firsthand. As a licensed counselor and certified teacher, she oversees the school’s Wellness Center, a cozy and calming space that welcomes teenagers seeking mental health support.
Jessica, a literacy interventionist at Alicia Sanchez Elementary School, wanted to level the playing field for emerging bilingual students. With a grant from Impact on Education she built a Reading Club to provide these students with opportunities to grow as readers.
Starting in 1986, with an initiative to empower educators through mini-grants, we’ve continued to evolve our grant program to meet the ever-changing needs of schools and students. This evolution is a testament to our dedication to creating opportunity for students and leveling the educational playing field.
info@impactoneducation.org
303.524.3865
Impact on Education
721 Front Street, Suite A
Louisville, CO 80027
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