Teachers learn how to identify, deal with mental health issues in students

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — During the school year, teachers can spend more time with students than their parents do.

“Their parents trust us as a school system and trust me as a teacher to teach the whole child, to encourage the whole child, to nurture the whole child,” Belville Elementary 5th grade teacher Shari Grazioso said.

In Brunswick County, part of that is being on the lookout for mental health issues. The first step toward recognizing those issues came at Friday’s youth mental health first aid class for teachers.

“The training is designed to help any individual, whether you have mental health background or not, identify warning signs that something is going on that may be atypical than the common adolescent development,” school counselor specialist Meredith Lloyd said.

Lloyd was responsible for securing a grant to make the training free for all the teachers. She says as more teachers take part, the district will be better equipped to deal with mental health problems.

“There is a gap between the time people start to exhibit signs and symptoms versus when they’re actually diagnosed,” Lloyd said. “The more people you have with an awareness of the signs and symptoms of a mental illness or to something that’s atypical, the outcome is definitely going to be more positive.”

Grazioso says she’ll take what she learned back with her into the classroom.

“I want to be available and equipped, I guess, to meet my students’ needs and not just academic needs. You can’t teach them if they’re in inner turmoil,” Grazioso said.

Brunswick County Schools hold six to ten of these youth mental health first aid classes per year. The school system is also making the class part of new teacher induction every fall.