Mental health continues as a prominent issue among Wisconsin youth, and N.J.S.D. strives to bring awareness to the phenomena across its various levels this school year.  

New to the high school this year, all freshmen were required to attend a suicide awareness and prevention program.

“This program was instilled because it was found that mental health issues were very prominent in Wisconsin compared to our neighbors Michigan and Minnesota,” Mental Health Coordinator Mike Altekruse said.

The program will help bring awareness to students the signs of suicide and aid in screening for suicide and depression.

Also available to NHS students is a club known as Mindfulness club. It was founded last year and has gained momentum this year. Mindfulness club focuses on meditation and being present and aware of life. Altekruse stresses the importance of being mindful as it is an exercise to strengthen and calm the mind.

Not only are students becoming aware of mental illness, teachers are too. One program that has risen in the district is Mental Health First Aid Training Sessions. This program is open for staff at all levels to attend and aid in understanding mental illness and how to handle it.

“What was beneficial to me was being able to talk through and have a conversation about exploring how to help a student in certain circumstances,” Tara Rockweit, an NHS teacher, said.

About 175 staff have already attended the Mental Health First Aid Training Sessions and another session will be taking place on Dec.15.

Even the younger students are finding safe and healthy outlets this year. Altekruse said for several days at a time, he will reach out to the students of Clayton Elementary School and spend a few minutes with each child to make a connection with them. Along with this program, Altekruse has been educating on being trauma sensitive, so adults know how to analyze and help kids that may have experienced trauma in their lives.

Another aspect of mental health is sleep, and according to Altekruse students are not getting enough of it. Nationwide’s Children Hospital states that teens get about seven hours of sleep each night but need about nine hours. In the future, it will likely be proposed to start school later meaning that N.J.S.D. students would be able to have healthier sleep schedules if a later starting time was adopted.

Several steps are being taken to conquer mental illness in the school district, and the future holds new ideas, but Rockweit says that everyone can always do more and be better.