ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orange County School Board is putting a renewed focus on the state of mental health of students by teaming up with an organization to help students cope when they’re dealing with stress or other problems.
- Orange County Public Schools to partner with Sandy Hook Promise Foundation
- They will train students to deal with various mental health issues
- Program is called 'Start with Hello' & 'Signs of Suicide'
OCPS is partnering with the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation. Starting next month, training will begin for two new programs to help students feel more included and to prevent suicide.
“You can’t just respond to students that are in crisis, you have to start looking at programs that will teach students how to cope," said Mary Bridges, Senior Director Student Services, OCPS.
The first program is called "Start with Hello," which will help teach students to be more inclusive and connected to one another. The second is called "Signs of Suicide," which trains kids and adults on how to identify, intervene and get help for people depressed or suicidal.
OCPS says it knows these measures are necessary for this day and age.
“With social media and with all of the pressures that are now on students that may not have been there before, it is very important for schools to realize that in that school setting we need to be able to teach students how to de-escalate, teach students how to cope, teach students how to work with each other," Bridges said.
Often new programs can come with new, big prices tags, but this one does not.
“Because it is a foundation, they are able to provide all of these services to us free of charge. So not only do they provide the trainers to train our people, but they also provide the curriculum. The online materials, everything we need to make this a success," Bridges said.
Parents will also be a part of these programs and will receive their information at the OCPS parent academy and PTA meetings.