Page 1 - TTWISept2020

TEACHING

Back to School, 2020
WISCONSIN’S 4K–12 EDUCATION CONNECTIONTODAY WI ™

Community Collaborative Addressing Mental Health Needs of Racine Children

Julie Hueller Racine Collaborative for Children’s Mental
Racine Unified School District Health (C2MH) to create innovative solu-
Manager Racine Collaborative for tions to address the unmet mental health
Children’s Mental Health needs of our children. Members include
As we enter into an unprecedented school community leaders, nonprofit and health-
year, the unmet mental health needs of our chil- care organizations, RUSD administrative and
dren are unequivocally at the top of our mind. student support staff, human service providers,
With the onset of COVID-19 across our globe, faith leaders, funders and parents/caregivers
we have seen an increase in the number of with lived experiences.
students reporting mental health concerns and The importance of having strong com-
each school district across our country is being munity partners that can assist with the unmet
challenged with how to best address this issue. mental health needs of our RUSD students
At Racine Unified School District was the driving force behind our work. As a
(RUSD), we started our journey to address school district, we could not do this alone.
the mental health of our students in 2012. One The first step for C2MH was creating a
community asset in Racine is the Johnson common vision and agenda for our work. The
Foundation at Wingspread, which provides community-level data and RUSD student data
an impact convening model to bring diverse revealed a need to find innovative approaches mental health services in our community. Early We researched the major barriers to
partners together to share ideas, concerns and to improve access for students and their fami- identification and treatment of students with accessing mental health services in the com-
collectively develop plans for positive change. lies to mental health services. mental health issues would assist the child and munity including transportation, competing
Out of our convening experience, we Our target populations were those stu- their family with improved mental well-being work-life demands on caregivers and having
developed a community collaborative, the dents and their families living in poverty and which in turn can support improved academic
experiencing difficulty in accessing traditional success. Continued on Page 4

Announcing our 2020

Dream Career Essay Contest Award Winners

Page 20
Open now for

Submissions! Announcing the Herb Kohl Teacher

Fellowship and Principal Leadership
Awards, recognizing excellence and
Details on innovation in PK–12 Wisconsin schools

Page 11

Nominations for 2021 accepted through October 13, 2020
at 5 p.m. See nomination details on Page 20.

thank you to our advertisers for your generous support!

Wisconsin Technical College System • Meemic Insurance • Get Into Energy • UW Stevens Point • Jellystone Park Warrens
MEP Associates • e-CYBERMISSION • Kohl’s Wild Zoo • Dairyland Power • Cardinal Stritch University • Kwik Trip

WEA Member Benefits • Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest • Nexus Solutions • Herb Kohl Educational Foundation
The College of St. Scholastica • UW Milwaukee • ICS Consulting, Inc. • Stahl Construction