Maquoketa Community School District Board Meeting – Student’s Mental Health Aid

Today the Maquoketa Community School District Board will have a special meeting. The meeting will start at noon and go over a few different agenda items, with one of them being about Mental Health Aid for 9th graders.

The “Youth Mental Health First Aid” instruction, if passed, will provide mental health education and resources to all 9th graders in the Maquoketa School District. The program would be integrated into the already existing health class. It would help students become more aware, reduce the stigma around mental health, and would equip them with the resources and information needed to help identity and respond to mental health issues in themselves and those around them. The implementation of this would also notably not be at any cost to the district.

Alongside the educational aspect, school counselors would be a vital part of the resource for the students to utilize. The students would be able to rely on and communicate with teachers, counselors, or the main office for additional assistance. An important factor in this as well is that over ten-percent of the faculty in Maquoketa Community School District have completed Youth Mental Health First Aid training earlier this year.

Superintendent Tara Notz recommends the council to approve the implementation of the Youth Mental Health First Aid program.