Educators in the Moultonborough School District became certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) on September 1, 2022. Youth Mental Health First Aid is a nationally recognized program to train adults that work with adolescents and children how to help those children/teenagers when they are experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge or are in crisis. The 8-hour training was a part of the school district’s back-to-school days for teachers on September 1, 2022. Educators last completed YMHFA training in 2019; the YMHFA certificate is valid for 3 years. “This training is one way we address the important concern of student anxiety and mental health. 98% – 99% of our staff is now Youth Mental Health First Aid Certified,” reported Patrick Andrew, Moultonborough Superintendent of Schools.
Officers of the Moultonborough Police Department (including SRO Officer C. Cloutier) and by the Moultonborough Recreation department Dan Sturgeon and Brandon Pare Educators joined MSD educators for the training. Heather Nelson, School Psychologist and Director of Counseling for MSD organized the training day and led a course as a certified YMHFA trainer. Heather Nelson said, “The adults interacting regularly with our youth should know the signs and symptoms of mental challenges and know what to do (5 Step ALGEE plan), what resources are available, and who to seek to get the needed support. Not only do we want to prevent suicides, but we want to do as much as we can to support the mental wellbeing of all of our students.”
University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension provided the district with other certified trainers so that the district could train 150+ staff members simultaneously. The YMHFA training is a part of the district’s suicide prevention plan and meets the NH requirement for districts to provide 2-hours of suicide training each year to staff. One participant reported, “Our instructors today for YMHFA kept saying how impressed they were with Moultonborough for being so progressive about student mental health.” MA Paraeducator Meindy Foreman on the training: “I am very thankful the school district provided us with this [YMHFA] training. It was a very engaging course and Igained so much knowledge from it.” “The statistics and data presented had a big impact on my understanding of mental health among our students,” said Amanda Bergquist, MSD Business Administrator.
If you are a community member/parent who would be interested in learning more about YMHFA or becoming certified yourself please complete the survey here.
