By Crystal Hayduk
The Chelsea School District Board of Education’s meeting at Beach Middle School’s media center on Dec. 10 opened with a special “graduation” ceremony, in which WWII veteran Don Doll received his diploma. (Related story here.)
The board also heard a presentation about supporting mental health at the middle school level. Claire Talarico, the school psychologist, and Mara Goodman, the school’s social worker, discussed the levels of social, emotional, and behavioral support offered at BMS.
Talarico said that there is an evidence-based early intervention program at the Tier 2 level, provided in partnership with the University of Michigan Depression Center, called TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students). A group of up to 12 students who are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of anxiety or depression meets for one hour a week for 10 weeks. Students receive cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness, which helps students develop awareness of their feelings, thoughts, and behavior patterns. Students learn mindfulness and relaxation to help them cope with their feelings by tolerating or changing them.
Goodman introduced the new plan to help all students, which is currently in the process of being developed. It’s a Tier 1 intervention called P2P (Peer to Peer). Teachers nominated students to participate; 14 student leaders across grades six through eight were chosen to assist with developing a mental health awareness campaign.
The goal is to reduce stigma surrounding mental health issues by learning about them, and encouraging students who experience symptoms to reach out for help. Student leaders are learning about anxiety and depression, as well as how to approach a friend who exhibits signs of needing help.
Goodman emphasized that students in the P2P program are not providing mental health counseling or giving mental health advice. “Their main goal is to teach other students and to bring them to the professionals if they need help,” she said.
It was the final meeting for the two members who are leaving their positions on the board. President Anne Mann served for 13.5 continuous years, and Greg Rhodes served for four years.
Superintendent Julie Helber presented them with clocks to commemorate their “dedicated service” to the district. “I would like to say how fortunate I have been over the course of my two and a half years with the Chelsea School District to work with both Anne and Greg through a lot of great times and challenging times, but to work with two people whose wise words and the thoughtful way that they listen and support our district is just incredible. We’ve been very fortunate to have both of them on the school board and they will truly be missed.”
In other board news:
With Laura Bush and Dana Durst absent, the board approved the purchase of two Multi-Function School Activity Buses (MFSAB) as a replacement for old vans that had been used for athletics and extracurricular trips. The MFSABs will transport twice as many passengers as the vans. The cost of two MFSABs will be $105,980 from Midwest Transit Equipment.
The transportation department received a Certificate of Excellence for earning a 100-percent pass rate of the school bus safety inspection for the 2017-18 school year.
During the opportunity for public input, teacher Meg Emlaw addressed the board on behalf of the CEA Crisis Team.
She said, “Thanks for ratifying the new agreement quickly, and for whatever influence was used to bring the CSD team back to the table to hear what the CEA had to say. Thank you for listening to the community, your constituents, who just wanted the teachers and their ideas to be heard. Thanks for your willingness to see your budget, especially fund equity, in a different way. We are excited for this new vision to be reflected in productive negotiations in 2020. Finally, thank you for your service to the Chelsea community, especially its students who, we all agree, deserve the best we can offer them.”
The board commended Nick Angel for being named Region 2 MEMSPA Principal of the Year (related story here.) and thanked him for hosting the board meeting at Beach Middle School.
The board commended Anne Mann and Greg Rhodes for their years of service to the Chelsea School District.
The board commended Josh Lucas for being named the MHSFCA (Michigan High School Football Coaches Association) Regional Coach of the Year; and senior Hunter Neff for being named a first team all-state player, also by the MHSFCA. Additionally, commendations went to Brad Bush for being nominated for MIAAA (Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association) Region 6 Athletic Director of the Year.
Upcoming dates:
There will be no school Dec. 24 through Jan. 4 for winter break.
The next board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the Washington Street Education Center.
