What We Provide

We increase mental health AWARE-ness, improve services and foster collaboration between agencies to better serve youth with mental health needs and their families, and connect them with additional services.
Benefits
More Counselors available. Calming/Chill Out corners in every classroom. Events for students, parents
and community members. Mental health related trainings for school personnel, students and the community
Trauma Informed Schools
Schools play an important role in providing a safe space for children, having trained personnel helps build a school environment that allows all children to thrive.
Trauma Informed Approach
A trauma-informed approach according to SAMHSA is, “inclusive of trauma-specific interventions, whether assessment, treatment or recovery
supports, yet it also incorporates key
trauma principles into the organizational culture."
2020-2021 School Year: a few things we have accomplished
  • Implementing second step program for Social Emotional Learning lessons
  • Implementing Mindfulness to all students
  • Social media pages (instagram / facebook) multiple instagram accounts (project aware, gay straight alignce, and therapy dogs
  • Our Project Aware website
  • Research on counseling workbooks for students and on children's books related to SEL
  • Designing new sensory areas for our students in the elementary school - this way they will have different options for a sensory break and not get bored with the same one
  • Calming Corners / Chill-Out Corners in each classroom for students to take a mental break in the classroom
  • Created Zen den's in the teachers lounges to support their self care and mental well being
  • We saw the need for an anxiety group and partnered with CMH for that  
  • Diversity mental health informational session for staff & community (month of February, videos are all recorded online on our Project Aware Shepherd Public Schools Facebook page)
  • Creating covid safe fidget boxes for each individual student, this way their items would be germ free and they wouldn't have to worry about others touching their fidgets
  • Tons and tons of research (mental health related)!
  • Screening students
  • Trainings (participating and facilitating)

Shepherd Counselors