The Value of Mental Health

The Peers Uplifting Peers program works to break down the stigma surrounding mental health and normalize having conversations about getting help. The program trains rural high schoolers in mental health first aid, teaching them how to communicate with their peers who may be experiencing mental health issues and how to connect them with trusted adults and mental health resources.

Some districts, like Portage Public Schools, are offering school-based mental health care to improve students’ overall well-being, school performance and greatly increase access to care. The use of school-based healthcare is on the rise, as more than 22,000 students received services from a school-based mental health services provider during the 2021-2022 school year, compared to just 8,885 from 2019-2020.

Minnesota schools began a comprehensive program aimed at assisting children of minority groups to successfully navigate the college application process and push them towards higher education.

Equine-assisted therapy is a unique approach that combines aspects of traditional therapy with the responsibilities of caring for a horse and even learning to ride. At the Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center, mental health professionals with equine training help youth learn to build trust and empathy while also teaching them impulse control and emotional awareness.

The student-led SzKTP program provides peer mentorship and application help to high school students interested in attending Corvinus University, with the goal of improving higher education opportunities for students from low-income and disadvantaged areas. Once they’re accepted to Corvinus, students in the program continue to receive support and guidance, as well as a stipend to help lessen the burden of university-related costs.

To enhance learning, Smart Primary School has integrated peer-mentoring in its curriculum through the Buddy program. Each student in the first grade is paired with a fifth grader who tutors and guides the younger one with lessons and activities for the next four years. The program has not just helped them improve their language, communication, and mathematics skills, but also helped enhance the school atmosphere through the trust and bonding students build in the process.

The Romani Education Fund in Slovakia is helping children from the Roma community, which has a history of social and economic disadvantages as well as being subject to ethnic discrimination, overcome challenges to finish high school and pursue higher education. The REF works by providing qualifying students with a stipend to pay for educational supplies, as well as providing school guidance and personal mentorship to help both students and parents overcome the social hurdles that impede the student's desire or ability to fulfill their potential.

In a Buffalo school district where many students from low-income families struggled with trauma, attendance, and the effects of poverty, a nonprofit initiative called Say Yes to Education is implementing drastic change. The program increases graduation rates for minority students, grants scholarships and admissions guidance to colleges, provides medical and mental health care to under-served students, brings in mentors and after-school programs, and even assists students parents with job-readiness workshops and housing assistance.

Forty percent of low-income students accepted to college never start school because of a fear of debt and feelings they don't belong. A New York college access organization is using peer-mentoring to help perspective students jump over the hurtles.

Aware of the challenges low-income students face, University of Texas Austin is offering them extra hours of instruction, advisers, and peer mentors, aiming to create a new sense of identity for these high-achieving but high-risk students.