Mental Health Advisory Days 21-22

P.K. Faculty – As you may remember, Florida has a state-mandated mental health training requirement for 6th-12th grade students (s.) 1011.62(16)F.S.  Below you’ll find important information about how we will meet this requirement this school year, including the dates and topics to be covered in advisory, the bell schedule for the mental health focused advisory days, curriculum plans, and other important details.

What Do Students Do During a Mental Health Advisory Day?
The schedule of topics and advisory dates are provided below. Students will be automatically assigned the virtual curriculum. Students will be assigned curriculum based on their grade level.

Mental Health Advisory Day Bell Schedule
On a Mental Health Advisory day, the bell schedule will be shifted slightly.  Advisory has been extended by 20 minutes to give more time for the mental health lessons and debriefing time.

Curriculum for Mental Health Advisory Days

• How to access the curriculum
  • Accessed via Clever – Log in to clever and look for the Suite 360 icon: https://clever.com/in/pkbluewave
  • Suite 360
    

• How to navigate the curriculum
  • Information about how to navigate the curriculum and access the teacher companion guide: Navigating Suite 360 
  •  After the lessons, there is time for group discussion. Discussion prompts are included in the teacher companion guide.
• Teacher Companion Guide

Ways Teachers Can Facilitate a Mental Health Advisory Day
In an effort to help teachers feel comfortable with delivery, the following options are provided:

• Student Self-Paced Independent Virtual Lesson + Teacher-Led Discussion
• Teacher-Led Whole Group Video Lesson + Discussion
• Review the Teacher Companion Guide | Teacher Companion Guide

Suggestions for Advisory Discussion After a Mental Health Lesson

• Trust your instincts as a facilitator and you know your advisory best.
• Acknowledge that focusing on mental health can bring up a variety of emotions.
• If your students seem like they need to debrief, then it’s OK to debrief.  Ask them how this experience has been for them.  Did anything resonate?  Is there anything you learned that you could help a friend/family member with? What do they need now? What questions do they have? What’s something they will do today to take care of their mental health?
• If your students seem like they are not in a space to debrief, then that’s OK too. Students might need space to process on their own before feeling comfortable talking in the group.

Student Support
Students may need to speak with a counselor after they engage with the materials during a mental health advisory day. Each counselor has their own advisory, so please refrain from sending students in search of support without connecting with a counselor first.  If there is a student that needs support after advisory:

• Send a TEAMS message to a student’s assigned counselors for guidance on connecting with support.
  • Caleb Chambliss | High School Last Names A-J
  • Jamie Edmondson | High School Last Names K-Z
  • Madison Schmidt | Middle School
• Students may also send a message directly to their counselor through Canvas.

If there’s a student that needs immediate support during advisory:

• Send the student to the Main Office with a pass and they will be connected with someone who can provide them support.

Teacher Support: Monday before each Mental Health Advisory Day at 2:40pm

Teachers may need to talk through the topics, the technology, the curriculum, specific students, or other things that can support mental health advisory time.  A help session will be hosted each month to provide support. The help session will be held the Monday before each Mental Health Focus Advisory at 2:40pm at: ​​https://ufl.zoom.us/j/9985255719.  The first help session will be October 25th at 2:40pm.

Reminder: Advisory is a safe space but remember, we are all mandatory reporters and obligated to share concerns for student safety. Here is some language that might be helpful to share with your students:

“These conversations are confidential. As your advisors, we are required to keep you safe. Out of concern for your safety, there may be times that we will share what you have said with other people who can provide additional support.”

If advisors encounter things of concern, please reach out to Student and Family Services, we can help you determine steps.

Thank you for helping facilitate this important aspect of school for our students.