Redesigned “NorthStar Wellness” Website Launches to Kick-Off “Mental Health Matters” Campaign

	In January of 2022, the United States Surgeon General called attention to concerns about the declining mental health of US children and teens referring to it as a crisis. The Surgeon General’s report points out that teen mental health and suicide risk was a problem before the pandemic and, for many kids, their access to care, education, and even to food and housing security declined during the pandemic making the problem worse.   Fortunately, the North Syracuse Central School District is working proactively to combat the issue. Kristen Stanton is the School-Based Mental Health and Wellness Coordinator for the North Syracuse Central School District. Because of Kristen’s expertise combined with specific mental health funding, the District has been able to add additional mental health professionals throughout its buildings.
Stanton says that the increased number of mental health staff is critical to meeting the needs of all students. “In light of the challenges our students have faced over the past two years, it is imperative that we have the people we need in place to provide additional support so that all students can receive assistance in a timely fashion,” Stanton said. “This vital addition of staff allows us to serve ALL students as they seek help and build the skills they need to successfully navigate high school and beyond.” In addition to increasing the number of resources available, the NSCSD is committed to getting the word out about those resources. In an effort to make the information readily available, the District’s “NorthStar Wellness” website has been revamped. Stanton devoted hours of time to the site in order to ensure that students and families could easily access critical information. Stanton says that the redesigned site places all the important information that families, staff and students are looking for regarding mental health and wellness in one, easy to use central location. “Information, like resources available within our district and the community at large, is available along with information on popular topics like test anxiety, peer pressure and vaping,” Stanton said. “There are also resources on finding the right fit in a therapist, building resilience and supporting children's mental health.” In addition to the updated website, Kristen and the team of mental health staff have planned a campaign to build awareness and increase communication around the topic of mental health. Stanton said, “One of our goals this year is to just let students know that it is OK to ask for help.” Lisa Goldberg is the Director of Social Emotional Learning for the NSCSD and as such works closely with Stanton. Lisa shares that the team has coordinated ongoing activities designed to continuously share resources and information. “In addition to specific events taking place at all schools throughout the year, we are committed to letting people know how and where to get help,” Goldberg said. “We intend to flood our families with information about mental health and the resources we have available so that there is never a question about how to access services.” In the coming month, magnets with school-specific contact information and description of job duties for all mental health professionals will be mailed to families. The information on those magnets is also provided on the wellness website.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for children and teens aged 10 to 19. Nearly 20% of teens reported that they seriously considered suicide in the 12 months, 15.3% made a plan and 9% attempted suicide.     Of those statistics, Stanton says, “Consider what that means in a typical high school classroom - 1 in 6 of your students has seriously considered suicide. 1 in 8 made a plan.  And 1 in 13 attempted. Scary, isn’t it?”    Stanton says it is critical for our schools to have the resources in place to reach out to students and to destigmatize mental health concerns. “We need to work as a team to help these kids and to show them that it is OK and perfectly normal to reach out,” Stanton said. “We’re here, we care and we want to help.”