News & Resources
Sign up to receive news and resource from the NCESD Behavioral Heath team in your email inbox. The team sends out a regular monthly newsletter filled with great resources, and sometimes they send “alerts” for timely information and news.
Archives
Check out our archive of past resources and news below. Use the filters to narrow down the topic you are interested in learning about.
Published on: August 28, 2024
Published by the Mayo Clinic more than ten years ago, this poignant video remains the most impactful resource for suicide prevention that we can share in just a few short minutes.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Parents, Suicide, TeachersPublished on: August 28, 2024
For when there's nowhere else to turn or they just want to talk to someone who doesn't know them: Anyone can call or text 988, or chat via www.988lifeline.org to receive live support, any time.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Suicide, TeachersPublished on: August 28, 2024
Erika's Lighthouse is a nonprofit on a mission to break down the stigma surrounding mental health and provide free depression education and suicide prevention programs to any school, anywhere.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Suicide, TeachersPublished on: April 29, 2024
Mental Health America (MHA) released its 2024 Toolkit, called Where to Start, in March 2024. Parts or all of the Toolkit can be used to promote mental health awareness and reduce stigma.
Tags: Counselors, Stigma Reduction, TeachersPublished on: April 29, 2024
In conjunction with using some of the educational tools included in the Mental Health America 2024 Toolkit, Where to Start, you might choose to Go Green. Green is the “official color for mental health awareness” and “represents renewal, hope and vitality.” Be ready to explain WHY you are displaying green: to demonstrate commitment to mental well-being.
Tags: Counselors, Stigma Reduction, TeachersPublished on: April 29, 2024
Even as we work to educate and empower youth to protect their own mental health, recognize when help is needed, and seek help for themselves or their peers. Still, when a young person is struggling, it is up to us to notice.
Tags: Counselors, Stigma Reduction, TeachersPublished on: April 5, 2024
While some stress is unavoidable, coping with the stress that comes our way is within our power by hacking our brain for better mood! There are four brain chemicals that rule our emotional outlook - Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphin - often called by their acronym as the DOSE chemicals.
Tags: Counselors, Parents, Prevention, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: February 29, 2024
Using curricula from the American Lung Association, Cancer Pathways personnel who are trained in health education and nicotine cessation deliver two separate programs, via Zoom, to students outside the Seattle area (where they prefer to administer in-person workshops).
Published on: February 29, 2024
The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) has launched the Friends for Life fentanyl awareness and prevention campaign. The Friends for Life campaign seeks to inform and educate people, including youth aged 12 and up, about illicit fentanyl, how to help teens avoid opioids like fentanyl, how to spot and respond to an opioid overdose, and how to use naloxone.
Tags: Counselors, Parents, Prevention, Substance UsePublished on: February 29, 2024
Parents’ Night Out is a FREE educational session for parents and other caregivers, and is part of the Talk. They Hear You. campaign of the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Parents, Prevention, Substance Use, TeachersPublished on: February 29, 2024
Available in the FREE digital platform EverFi from Everbaud and supported by Truth, Prescription Drug Safety: Know the Truth consists of eight lessons intended for grades 8 - 12.
Tags: Curriculum, Prevention, Substance Use, TeachersPublished on: January 29, 2024
Among the numerous organizations that observe Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month each February, Love is Respect is one; its Youth Council chose as the 2024 theme Love Like That.
Tags: Counselors, Relationships, TeachersPublished on: January 29, 2024
Love is Respect is an online resource for older teens and young adults. Its primary focus is on intimate partner relationships with emphasis on “being on the same page” with one’s partner regarding definitions, boundaries and consent, “an ongoing mutual agreement between partners about what they want to experience.”
Tags: Counselors, Relationships, TeachersPublished on: January 29, 2024
Character Playbook is a digital course, sponsored by the NFL, that teaches students how to establish healthy relationships with their peers and navigate complex social interactions.
Tags: Curriculum, Relationships, TeachersPublished on: January 3, 2024
The Washington State Department of Health has recently published a new webpage, Teen Health Hub WA, or The Hub. Created by the Department of Health Adolescent and Young Adult Health Team, in consultation with teens and young adults in Washington State, including a dedicated Youth Advisory Board, the page is designed for continuous expansion.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Parents, Relationships, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: January 3, 2024
Whether through involvement in extracurricular student groups, in-school enrichment opportunities, or classes such as art and shop, students can benefit greatly from learning skills that are applicable to hobbies at home – both now while they are in school and in their futures as adults.
Tags: Counselors, Parents, Relationships, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: January 3, 2024
This video would be great to share with children in elementary grades and their parents! Explained to Kids: Mental Health, Mind & Heart Wellness, from Shandy Clinic, is only one minute and thirty seconds in length. Its approach is positive and prevention-oriented.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Parents, Relationships, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: November 14, 2023
The article, 35 Tips for Dealing With Difficult Family Members During the Holidays, written by Melissa Boudin, PsyD and reviewed by Kristen Fuller, MD, was published by Choosing Therapy on October 17, 2023. We have listed the 35 tips shared by the authors, and hope you will visit Choosing Therapy to read the expansion of each for yourself.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: November 14, 2023
By combining advice from the American Psychiatric Association and the Mayo Clinic Health System, we have generated the following list of holiday stress reduction strategies you might use yourself and encourage your parents and older students to use.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: November 14, 2023
This video, Reducing Holiday Stress in Kids, two minutes and sixteen seconds in length, from Eugene Pediatric Associates, would be great to share with parents of your students!
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: November 5, 2023
Learn how Child Protective Services of the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) investigates concerns of possible child abuse and neglect, and how school personnel can engage with CPS and DCYF.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Teachers, VapingPublished on: November 5, 2023
As we enter the holiday season, it may be a good time to consider conducting a unit of service learning in your classroom. For secondary students, a service learning unit might begin before the Thanksgiving break and continue until the semester ends late in January. For elementary students, a unit of service learning that begins upon students’ return from their Thanksgiving break and ends just before Winter Break may be enough.
Tags: Curriculum, Relationships, TeachersPublished on: November 5, 2023
This two-minute video, The Science of Gratitude, emphasizes the physical, mental, emotional and social benefits of practicing gratitude. Ten sources of further information are listed at the end of the video.
Tags: Awareness, Counselors, Relationships, TeachersPublished on: October 6, 2023
This video, Bullying Hurts, was submitted to Pacer's National Bullying Prevention Center as an entry in the Center's Students with Solutions contest: Engaging students to learn about bullying prevention through art, writing, and video production.
Published on: October 6, 2023
The NCTSN was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children’s Health Act. According to the NCTSN website their "mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children, their families and communities throughout the United States."
Published on: September 11, 2023
The United States Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced earlier this year the release of its updated 988 Partner Toolkit.
Tags: Prevention, Stigma ReductionPublished on: June 15, 2023
Learn more about the Choose You campaign launched by the Washington State Department of Health in April of 2023.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Teachers, VapingPublished on: June 12, 2023
You and Me Together, Vape Free, part of Stanford Medicine’s Tobacco Prevention Toolkit, is a free, theory-based and evidence-informed curriculum.
Tags: Curriculum, Teachers, VapingPublished on: June 12, 2023
The Truth Initiative was founded in 1999 as the American Legacy Foundation, dedicated to ending tobacco use among youth and young adults.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, VapingPublished on: June 12, 2023
The Truth: It’s a Breath of Stress Air is an online program directed to teens and designed to assist them in vaping cessation.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, VapingPublished on: June 12, 2023
The Teen Intervene educational program is designed for youth ages 12 - 19 “who display the early stages of substance use problems.”
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, VapingPublished on: June 12, 2023
Smokefree Teen is part of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Smokefree.gov Initiative. The goal of Smokefree Teen is to reduce the number of youth who use tobacco.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, VapingPublished on: June 12, 2023
For this very special Virtual Field Trip, join Discovery Education and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine the science behind e-cigarettes and the impact they can have on teenagers’ health and well-being.
Tags: Curriculum, Teachers, VapingPublished on: June 12, 2023
INDEPTH stands for Intervention for Nicotine Dependence: Education, Prevention, Tobacco and Health. The teaching materials are free of charge, but accessible only after completing the online INDEPTH Facilitator Training, also free of charge.
Published on: June 12, 2023
For students who have been caught vaping, or who have expressed a desire to stop vaping, Healthy Futures Alternative to Suspension Curricula, part of Stanford Medicine’s Tobacco Prevention Toolkit, includes four options, each covering: Health Effects, Your Brain, Messaging, and Costs
Published on: June 12, 2023
The Tobacco Education Resource Library from the United States Food and Drug Administration offers three lesson plans designed for grades 6 - 12. These are variously aligned to Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Math, and to Next Generation Science Standards.
Tags: Curriculum, Teachers, VapingPublished on: April 25, 2023
Building Blocks for Healthy Self Esteem in Kids, from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), via its parent website healthychildren.org, defines “self esteem” as “the way we perceive ourselves,” and tells us that self esteem influences resilience, relationships, motivation, and achievements.
Tags: Parents, Resilience, Stigma ReductionPublished on: April 24, 2023
Imagine having - right at your fingertips - a list of small actions you could take to calm yourself, or to energize yourself, as needed! With iChill, a FREE app from the Trauma Resource Institute, you, or anyone with internet access, can have exactly that!
Tags: ResiliencePublished on: April 24, 2023
Mental Health America started Mental Health Month in 1949. Each year, the non-profit organization creates and releases a Mental Health Month toolkit.
Tags: Stigma ReductionPublished on: April 24, 2023
Show this video to your colleagues, your students and their parents! This video from Children’s Hospital Colorado explains mental health stigma as a remnant.
Tags: Stigma ReductionPublished on: April 24, 2023
A list of curated resources aligned with the NCESD Behavioral Health team’s monthly email newsletter; May includes links to excellent mental health resources
Tags: Curated Links, Resilience, Stigma Reduction, SuicidePublished on: March 23, 2023
Check out NCESD's new Wellness Event Guide and be sure to bookmark it! The guide includes things like checklists, timelines, templates, and more to help you host your own Wellness Event in your school.
Published on: March 23, 2023
While much of our work focuses on prevention, this month’s emphasis on stress will NOT focus on preventing stress! Why not? These videos from Mental Health Literacy answers this question beautifully!
Tags: ResiliencePublished on: March 23, 2023
The American Psychological Association (APA) has devoted numerous articles to the topic of stress, including the chronic stress effects on the body, the difference between stress and anxiety, and how to handle life stressors.
Tags: ResiliencePublished on: March 23, 2023
Drawn from a new book, The Stress Prescription, by health psychologist and researcher Elissa Epel, Jill Suttie’s article Seven Ways to Have a Healthier Relationship With Stress includes a few strategies that may be fresh and new to you.
Tags: ResiliencePublished on: March 23, 2023
KidsHealth in the Classroom has a variety of resources to help youth grasp foundational concepts about health, behavior, and development from before birth through the teen years.
Tags: Awareness, Curriculum, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: March 23, 2023
TeenMentalHealth.org has a variety of mental health resources, including "Understanding the Stress Response" and "Learning How to Use Daily Stress to Develop Resilience"
Tags: ResiliencePublished on: March 22, 2023
Busting Stress: Stress Management Lesson Plans for Grade 7-12 by YouthSMART, an initiative from the Canadian Mental Health Association - Calgary Region.
Tags: Curriculum, TeachersPublished on: March 22, 2023
A list of curated resources aligned with the NCESD Behavioral Health team’s monthly email newsletter; April's resources are about managing stress for both children and adults.
Tags: Curated Links, ResiliencePublished on: February 24, 2023
Launched by scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 2010, National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week promotes discussion of drug use and addiction science.
Tags: Counselors, Curriculum, Substance UsePublished on: February 24, 2023
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the lead federal agency supporting scientific research on drug use and addition. We've collected a variety of lesson plans and acitives from NIDA for grades 5-12.
Tags: Curriculum, Substance Use, TeachersPublished on: February 23, 2023
SAMHSA has created a campaign called Talk. They Hear You. Among the campaign's resources for schools and educators, community partners and parents and caregivers is the FREE mobile app.
Tags: Substance UsePublished on: February 23, 2023
Created by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Discovery Education, Operation Prevention is an inquiry-based program, intended for touth ages 8 - 18, parents, and workforce members.
Tags: Curriculum, Parents, Substance Use, TeachersPublished on: February 23, 2023
The authors intended that the Substance Misuse Expansion Lessons would stand alone in Grades K, 1, 2, 3, and 4, but would follow the Catch My Breath Vaping Prevention curriculum in Grades 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Tags: Curriculum, Substance Use, TeachersPublished on: February 23, 2023
CATCH My Breath’s peer-led teaching approach empowers students with the knowledge and skills needed to make informed decisions about e-cigarettes and resist social pressures to vape.
Tags: Curriculum, Substance Use, Teachers, VapingPublished on: February 23, 2023
An introduction to resources from the March 2023 newsletter about substance abuse prevention. The information in the introduction provides best practices in implementation.
Tags: Curriculum, Substance Use, Teachers, VapingPublished on: February 23, 2023
A list of curated resources aligned with the NCESD Behavioral Health team’s monthly email newsletter; March's resources are about substance abuse prevention.
Tags: Curated Links, Curriculum, Substance Use, VapingPublished on: January 19, 2023
The Healthy Relationship Toolkit, adapted from Safe Dates, teaches communication and conflict resolution skills, challenges gender stereotypes and includes an extensive list of feeling words.
Tags: Curriculum, Relationships, TeachersPublished on: December 15, 2022
A list of curated resources aligned with the NCESD Behavioral Health team’s monthly email newsletter; January's resources are about general mental health care.
Tags: Curated LinksPublished on: December 13, 2022
A FREE, six-module training series, Classroom WISE (Well-Being Information and Strategies for Educators), is now available to help educators create safe and supportive learning environments for students, and to respond appropriately when mental health concerns become evident.
Tags: Awareness, Curriculum, Stigma Reduction, TeachersPublished on: December 13, 2022
The U. S. Department of Health & Human Services maintains a comprehensive Mental Health website that includes a definition of mental health, a discussion of common myths surrounding mental health, descriptions of numerous mental health disorders and several ways of getting help for mental health disorders.
Tags: Awareness, Stigma ReductionPublished on: December 13, 2022
The Mental Health & High School Curriculum is a FREE resource available to educators for teaching concepts of mental health to students in grades 9 and 10.
Tags: Awareness, Curriculum, Resilience, Stigma Reduction, TeachersPublished on: December 12, 2022
In Part Four, Shelley will describe some of the logistics necessary to ensure successful implementation of a UMHS event and provide three critical resources to support UMHS implementation.
Tags: Administrators, Awareness, Counselors, Screening, SuicidePublished on: November 21, 2022
Throughout our North Central region, in various creative and memorable ways, schools observed Unity Day, a day to celebrate kindness, acceptance and inclusion.
Published on: November 16, 2022
A list of curated resources aligned with the NCESD Behavioral Health team’s monthly email newsletter; December resources are focus on managing stress.
Tags: Curated Links, ResiliencePublished on: November 16, 2022
Ideas on how adults who interact with students can help those who may be faced with stressful, and sometimes dangerous, situations during holiday breaks.
Tags: Resilience, TeachersPublished on: November 16, 2022
Seven common issues families may experience during the holidays and how you can set a peaceful example and avoid upsetting others.
Tags: RelationshipsPublished on: November 16, 2022
By employing stress management strategies, adults can set a calm example and keep the home or school environment peaceful.
Tags: Relationships, ResiliencePublished on: November 16, 2022
The Mayo Clinic, encourages us to “take control of the holidays” by acting in advance to avoid stress and depression, and by planning toward peace and joy.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, Parents, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: October 26, 2022
A list of curated resources aligned with the NCESD Behavioral Health team’s monthly email newsletter; November resources are focused on kindness and gratitude.
Tags: Awareness, Curated Links, RelationshipsPublished on: October 25, 2022
Introduce gratitude into the classroom with a Gratitude Journal activity for students. Learn about the activity and get inspiration with some guiding discussion questions.
Tags: Awareness, Relationships, TeachersPublished on: October 25, 2022
Recommendations on how educators and other school personnel can best support youth who are transgender. Information from interview with Light Estrada Gonzalez.
Published on: October 25, 2022
Kindness in the Classroom© is a free social-emotional learning curriculum from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation (RAK). There are resources available for grades PK-12.
Tags: Awareness, Curriculum, Relationships, TeachersPublished on: October 25, 2022
Explore the important preparation for success - developing your school’s WHY, the rationale for Universal Mental Health Screening (UMHS) in your community.
Tags: Administrators, Awareness, Counselors, Screening, SuicidePublished on: October 10, 2022
Shelley outlines the initial steps critical to implementing your first UMHS - working with your school team and community mental health partners to prepare for your event.
Tags: Administrators, Awareness, Counselors, Screening, SuicidePublished on: October 10, 2022
Hope Squad is an evidence- and research-based, peer-support program shown to improve school culture, destigmatize mental health challenges, and, ultimately, to save lives.
Tags: Administrators, Bullying, Counselors, TeachersPublished on: October 10, 2022
Would you like to help students assess their own behavior in regard to bullying? Have they at times been bullied? Have they witnessed bullying? Have they bullied others?
Tags: Bullying, Counselors, Curriculum, TeachersPublished on: October 10, 2022
A list of curated resources aligned with the NCESD Behavioral Health team’s monthly email newsletter; October resources are focused on bullying prevention.
Tags: Bullying, Curated LinksPublished on: September 22, 2022
On Unity Day, the third Wednesday of October, wearing the color ORANGE tells others that you are ON BOARD with kindness, acceptance, and inclusion, and that you want to prevent bullying. But wearing orange is not the only way to observe and celebrate Unity Day.
Published on: September 19, 2022
A variety of resources like the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions toolkit to evaluate whether a student is at suicide risk. Other resources include Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale.
Tags: Counselors, Screening, SuicidePublished on: September 19, 2022
An introduction to Universal Mental Health Screening (UMHS), an emerging best practice similar to other school-based health screenings, like scoliosis, BMI, vision, and hearing.
Tags: Administrators, Awareness, Counselors, Screening, SuicidePublished on: September 19, 2022
A list of curated resources aligned with the NCESD Behavioral Health team’s monthly email newsletter; September resources are focus on suicide prevention.
Tags: Curated Links, ResiliencePublished on: September 10, 2022
OSPI's Model District Template for Student Social, Emotional, and Behavioral, and Mental Health Recognition, Screening, and Response document is intended to provide a template to district and building administrators and student support professionals.
Tags: Administrators, Counselors, ResiliencePublished on: September 10, 2022
TeacherWISE is a 6-hour self-paced online training to support teacher self-care and classroom climate from the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland.
Tags: Relationships, Resilience, TeachersPublished on: September 10, 2022
Seize the Awkward may be an ideal first step in preparing a class, club, or entire student body for focused suicide prevention activities.
Tags: Resilience, Suicide, TeachersPublished on: September 10, 2022
Help is Available 24/7! Share these numbers with students, parents and colleagues: 988 Suicide and Crisis Line, Crisis Text Line 741741, Teen Link, and Teen Line.
Tags: Administrators, Awareness, Counselors, Resilience, SuicidePublished on: September 9, 2022
A resource to support our school staff’s well-being is the Happiness Calendar. Each month a new daily calendar for a month of activities intended to encourage adults to focus on their own well-being and also that of their community.
Tags: Resilience, TeachersPublished on: September 6, 2022
The 2x10 Strategy is a research-based strategy to build an authentic relationship and decrease negative classroom behaviors.
Tags: Relationships, Teachers