Jessica Nugent, Burke program manager, and Mary M. Reece, Ed.D, director of special projects at the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association’s Foundation for Educational Engagement shared their view on the importance of Healing Centered Engagement in New Jersey schools in an Op-ed for NJ Spotlight News.
The project provides training and coaching for every adult who touches the life of a student: bus drivers, custodians, teachers, school staff members, PTA volunteers and others. Since 2020, more than 4,000 staff in 80 schools received training — and an impressive 90% of participants called the training valuable.
But the future of this much-needed healing-centered school initiative is in jeopardy. The healing project needs funding to continue and to train staff at more of New Jersey’s 600-plus school districts.
Recent data provide a frightening glimpse into young people’s mental health. Nationwide, 44% of high school students reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless and 29% said they seriously considered attempting suicide. Data shows a rise of mental health issues among younger children as well.
School officials say they see a connection between these mental health stressors and increases in at-risk behaviors such as panic attacks, harassment, intimidation and bullying — as well as the need for more suicide intervention.
In New Jersey, several state-based philanthropic organizations responded to the crisis by developing the Healing Centered Engagement Project for New Jersey Schools, with crucial assistance from the Foundation for Educational Administration, the professional learning division of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.
Training helps people who work with children to recognize signs of serious mental health issues and when and where to connect a child for professional evaluation. Equally important, they learn to better understand what causes childhood adversity and how to recognize its effects on students.
The project is making a difference. But there is more work ahead.