Mental Health Mondays 2022
Mental Health Mondays #4, published Monday, June 1, 1:02 p.m.
Good afternoon Arcadia Unified Parents, Students, and Community,
We hope your week is off to a good start. We continue with our Mental Health Mondays to ensure a focus on mental health for our students, staff, and parents during this challenging time and to support, enhance, and highlight the important work our school counselors, psychologists, and other Arcadia Unified staff are doing.
This week we are debuting our new COVID-19 Mental Health & Wellness Support and Resources webpage. We created this webpage to offer additional assistance and to support anyone who may need it. We want you to know you are not alone. We are here for you, and we are with you. Please utilize this webpage to connect with our staff, and other resources as you need them. You can visit the webpage via https://bit.ly/ausdmentalhealth. The webpage also features an introductory video message from Superintendent Dr. Vannasdall.
We have also attached (see below) a self-care check-in list that you may find useful. These are some helpful ideas you can utilize to make sure you are taking care of yourself and feeling your best. Please feel free to share any of our resources with anyone you think might benefit from them.
We also created a special Mental Health Mondays web page which has all of today’s resources, and the previous week’s resources as well, for your convenience.
Please know you are not alone. We are here for you, and we are with you. Arcadia Unified has a remarkable team of caring counselors, psychologists, teachers, and administrators who are here to support you. We hope you have found these resources over the past month helpful, and that you have a wonderful summer ahead. We have been using the hashtag #MentalhealthmondaysAUSD on social media if you would like to join the conversation and share with us on our social media platforms.
Stay well,
Arcadia Unified School District
#SchoolsClosedHeartsOpen
Mental Health Mondays #3, published Monday, May 18, 5:02 p.m.
Good evening Arcadia Unified Parents, Students, and Community,
We hope your week is off to a great start. We continue with our Mental Health Mondays to ensure a focus on mental health for our students, staff, and parents during this challenging time and to support, enhance, and highlight the important work our school counselors, psychologists, and other Arcadia Unified staff are doing.
This week we are highlighting coping strategies. As people inevitably deal with stress and anxiety, it can be extremely helpful to understand and to utilize coping strategies to manage your feelings. Today, we are providing six effective coping strategies. These easy-to-follow coping infographics were created by Arcadia High School Psychologist, Tim Crosby, who is an Educationally Related Intensive Counseling Services (ERICS) School Psychologist and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.
These coping strategies include the STOP, RIDE, and Grounding techniques, along with “Improving your thinking,” mental health apps, and the benefits of exercise. The strategies are ideal for students as young as fourth grade, and can be used effectively by adults of any age. These strategies can also be simplified for younger children.
You will find two of the coping strategies attached below, and you can view all six on our website. We created a special Mental Health Mondays web page which has all of today’s resources, and the previous week’s resources as well, for your convenience. We hope you, your children, a friend, or someone you know can learn and use these coping strategies to help manage and reduce any stress and anxiety you or they may be feeling. https://bit.ly/mhmondays
Each Monday, for the remainder of the school year, we will continue to provide mental health resources to help support everyone as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic and school closures together. In addition to helping support our students, these resources are also available to our parents, staff, and community. Look for emails and social media posts each week with these valuable resources for mental health support and wellness. We have been using the hashtag #MentalhealthmondaysAUSD on social media if you would like to join the conversation and share with us on our social media platforms.
Please know you are not alone. We are here for you, and we are with you. Arcadia Unified has a remarkable team of caring counselors, psychologists, teachers, and administrators who are here to support you. For more information about our team, support, and links to each of our school’s counseling websites, you can click here.
Stay well,
Arcadia Unified School District
#SchoolsClosedHeartsOpen
Mental Health Mondays 2, published Monday, May 11, 12:47 p.m.
To the Arcadia Unified Parents, Students, and Community,
We hope you and your family are well. To continue to help support our student’s mental health and wellbeing, we continue with our Mental Health Mondays to ensure a focus on mental health for our students during this challenging time and to support, enhance, and highlight the important work our school counselors, psychologists, and other Arcadia Unified staff are doing.
This week we are highlighting the AUSD Elementary Virtual Calming Room. This website was lovingly created by the AUSD Elementary School Counselors with a focus for elementary-aged students, but it’s a great resource for students and adults of all ages. The purpose of the Virtual Calming Room is to help students explore strategies, tools, and resources to help bring a sense of calm in challenging times. Students have the ability to navigate this website to help facilitate their ability to regulate their emotions, increase their resiliency, and have some fun! The featured sections consist of sounds and music, guided meditation, mindful movement, live animal cameras, and coloring and creativity. https://bit.ly/AUSDcalm
Each Monday, for the remainder of the school year, we will continue to provide mental health resources to help support everyone as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic and school closures together. In addition to helping support our students, these valuable resources are also available to our parents, staff, and community. Look for emails and social media posts each week with these valuable resources for mental health support and wellness. We have been using the hashtag #MentalhealthmondaysAUSD on social media if you would like to join the conversation and share with us on our social media platforms.
Please know you are not alone. We are here for you, and we are with you. Arcadia Unified has a remarkable team of caring counselors, psychologists, teachers, and administrators who are here to support you. For more information about our team, support, and links to each of our school’s counseling websites, you can click here.
Stay well,
Arcadia Unified School District
#SchoolsClosedHeartsOpen
Mental Health Mondays 1, published Monday, May 4, 5:32 p.m.
To the Arcadia Unified Parents and Community,
We want to continue to be here for you and your children. Our students are very important to us, and we want to do everything we can to support them, and you, during this difficult time. With May being Mental Health Awareness month, we are excited to launch Mental Health Mondays. Each Monday, for the remainder of the school year, we will be providing mental health resources to help support everyone as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic and school closures together. In addition to helping support our students, these valuable resources are also available to our parents, staff, and community.
The first two resources (see below) we are providing are “10 Self-Care Strategies for Teens” and “Teen Guide to Mental Health and Wellness.” There are some great techniques and strategies for anyone who may be feeling anxious or depressed, websites and apps to help with coping, and hotlines that can be utilized to seek further assistance if needed. Please know that you are not alone. We are here for you, and please continue to be there for each other. If you need someone to talk with about how you are feeling, please reach out to a friend, family member, AUSD teacher, AUSD staff, AUSD counselor or administrator, or utilize one of the resources provided. We have seen so much love and support during these trying times when our schools have been closed, and have been inspired by so many people willing to help. Please continue to do so. Even if you’re not in need of any support yourself, please think of someone who might. Reach out to them by text, phone, or video. Simply say hello, check-in, offer support, or just share a laugh and a line of comfort. Our schools are physically closed, but our hearts remain wide open.
Look for emails and social media posts each Monday with these valuable resources for mental health support and wellness. We have been using the hashtag #Schoolsclosedheartsopen on social media and will begin using #MentalhealthmondaysAUSD if you would like to join the conversation and share with us on our social media platforms.
We remain committed to updating our dedicated Coronavirus webpage with new resources and information. You can view this communication, our nineteenth, (in English and Chinese) and all the previous updates we have sent to all parents and staff on our website. If you or someone you know needs additional language support, please let us know. We also encourage you to follow our Facebook page and Twitter page, where we will share additional non-urgent information and Arcadia Unified news. We are very proud of our students, staff, families, and community, and know we will all get through this together. You are not alone. We are here for you and each other.
Sincerely,
Arcadia Unified School District
