{"id":403,"date":"2022-09-06T17:55:44","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T17:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swpro.org\/breeanadams\/?page_id=403"},"modified":"2023-04-26T12:21:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T12:21:42","slug":"special-project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/swpro.org\/breeanadams\/special-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a part of my practicum experience at Collegedale Academy Elementary and Middle School with the Counseling Department, I got the opportunity to pilot a program at a similar, but smaller, nearby Seventh-day Adventist School. This project was titled “Student Support Services” and took place from September 2022 – May 2023 at Standifer Gap Seventh-day Adventist School. This project was made possible because of the combined efforts of myself, my supervisor, Amanda Ancheta, my professor, Stephanie Guster, and permission from the Georgia Cumberland Conference. Additional participants in getting this project going were the current principal at Standifer Gap SDA School, Kent Kast, former principal, Joel McQuistan, and members of different committees such as Heather Runyon and Leah Parris. Lastly, students and parents of students attending the Standifer Gap SDA School, faculty, and teachers at Standifer Gap SDA School were final participants in this project.<\/p>\n

Social Issue\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Standifer Gap SDA School is a\u00a0<\/span>small, private, Seventh-day Adventist school in the Chattanooga area.\u00a0<\/span>This school, along with about 4 other small Seventh-day Adventist schools in the\u00a0<\/span>area, serves\u00a0many children and families that prefer to have a smaller school that is\u00a0<\/span>religiously<\/span>\u00a0based. However, because of the small size, and being religious based, they do not have the resources av<\/span>ailable to them that public schools have. One resource that they often do not have is access to a mental health professional such as a school counselor or school social worker. These children have mental health needs that are no different from<\/span>\u00a0children at a public school,\u00a0<\/span>yet<\/span> their needs often go unaddressed because of this social issue. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, data gathered from 2016 through 2019 showed that 9.4% of children ages 3-17 in the United States were diagnosed with anxiety, 8.9% were diagnosed with behavior problems, and 4.4% were diagnosed with depression (Data and statistics, n.d.). While these statistics show relatively low numbers, this only represents a portion of the population. The population that is represented is the children who have an official diagnosis. According to a study done by the University of Michigan\u2019s Health Lab, it was found that one (1) in seven (7) children in the United States alone are struggling with a mental health disorder that is undiagnosed, but is treatable (Child focus, therapy, & trauma, 2022).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Part of the issue is that there has been a stigma that mental health needs do not exist in the Adventist world. This stigma has been passed down for generations and\u00a0<\/span>much work has been done to combat this stigma. The other part of this issue is that because the schools are small, they do not have the funding to hire a mental health professional to be in their school.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This issue\u00a0<\/span>is significantly impacting the students at Standifer Gap SDA school, but also on a\u00a0<\/span>broader<\/span>\u00a0spectrum of the smaller schools in the Georgia Cumberland Conference as well as smaller schools across the states.\u00a0<\/span>Since it is not a requirement to have a mental health professional at the schools in the Georgia Cumberland Conference and other Adventist conferences as well, countless mental health needs go\u00a0<\/span>unaddressed. The people affected by this are the students at Standifer Gap SDA School and other Adventist schools, the teachers at Standifer Gap SDA School and other Adventist Schools, as\u00a0<\/span>well as the parents of students at Standifer Gap SDA School and other Adventist Schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

Theoretical Application<\/strong><\/p>\n

While going through the process of implementing this pilot program at Standifer Gap SDA School, one theory that played a role and correlated with this social issue is the Systems theory. This theory discusses how things relate to each other within a greater, more complex system. Within the Adventist school system, students relate to each other in the school, but the schools are also part of a conference, ultimately going all the way up to the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventist level. Taking the principals of the systems theory, there are multiple aspects that go into making a successful school for students where all aspects of their well-being are addressed. Things such as Math, Science, Language Arts, as well as Technology and Recess are all important aspects that make up the system at the school. However, there is one aspect that is missing to truly create a complete, holistic school system. This missing link is mental health services in the smaller Seventh-day Adventist schools. By implementing Student Support Services at Standifer Gap, we are working to close this gap and provide a complete, more holistic school environment for students, faculty and families. <\/span><\/p>\n

This project was initiated by Stephanie Guster, Amanda Ancheta, Heather Runyon<\/span>, <\/span>Leah Parris of the home and school board at Standifer Gap SDA School, and myself.<\/span>\u00a0The project is sponsored by the Standifer Gap SDA School.<\/span>\u00a0Georgia Cumberland Conference is in support of this project as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research<\/strong><\/p>\n

Research shows that children struggle with mental health and that interventions that are specifically designed for the school system are beneficial in decreasing mental health <\/span>concerns among children, teaching children coping skills, and providing preventative intervention. A study done to determine if\u00a0<\/span>School Based Mental Health Counseling Intervention would be effective for students in elementary school found that children did in <\/span>fact benefit\u00a0<\/span>after just 5 sessions. The students showed improvement in active listening and empathetic responses,\u00a0<\/span>confidence and competence<\/span>\u00a0(Kelchner,\u00a0<\/span>Perleoni<\/span>, & Lambie, 2019).\u00a0<\/span>Another study done to determine what effect School based mental health counseling interventions would have on the overall attendance, behavior, and emotional problems of an elementary school found<\/span>\u00a0similar results. It was found that having an in school mental health counseling intervention increased\u00a0<\/span>attendance and\u00a0decreased<\/span>\u00a0emotional issues among students\u00a0<\/span>(Lambie, Solomon, Joe, Kelchner, &\u00a0<\/span>Perleoni<\/span>, 2019).<\/span>\u00a0Lastly, a study looking at the changes in mental health\u00a0<\/span>symptoms<\/span>\u00a0before and after school based mental health intervention\u00a0<\/span>found that there was a decrease in anxiety, depression, and general distress after participating in a school based mental health intervent<\/span>ion program. Additionally, there was an increase in self-esteem and self-<\/span>efficacy\u00a0<\/span>amount<\/span>\u00a0students who participated in the intervention program (Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014).<\/span>\u00a0These research studies as well as others help to show the importance of school based mental health services and interventions for children and how beneficial they can be. While there has not been much research done on having these interventions in Adventist schools specif<\/span>ically, I am confident that the results would be similar as children<\/span>\u00a0in Adventist schools<\/span>\u00a0are exposed to and deal with many of the same situations in life\u00a0<\/span>as any other child.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interventions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The mission of this project is to provide the necessary mental health services to students, teachers, and parents at Standifer Gap SDA School with a long-term intent to build a plan to provide mental health services to the other 4 small Adventist schools in this area as well. Some goals of this project include providing mental health services to Standifer Gap SDA School for this current school year, advocate at the local and conference level for the need of mental health professionals in all Adventist schools, and successfully getting mental health professionals into the Adventist schools in the Chattanooga and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

At the start of the program, a pamphlet was sent out to parents\/guardians of students attending Standifer Gap SDA School informing them of the added program as well as what this program would offer. To view this pamphlet, click the following link: Introduction Pamphlet for Standifer Gap SDA School<\/a>. Additionally, a letter was also sent out along with the pamphlet to help introduce the project. This letter can be viewed through the following link: Standifer Gap Parent Letter Introducing Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Intervention tools include<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the Creating a Culture\"\"<\/a> of Kindness curriculum for middle school whole class lessons, the 5th<\/span> grade Second Step curriculum for whole class lessons for 4th and 5th grade, A Sea of Friends for 2<\/span><\/span>nd<\/span><\/span>-3<\/span>rd<\/span><\/span>\u00a0small group, Blooming Friendships curriculum for\u00a0<\/span>K-1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/span> small group, and CBT, problem solving skills, DBT, and coping skills for individual meetings with students. <\/span>Whole class lessons with 4th – 8th grade occur weekly, small groups for kindergarten – 3rd grade occur weekly\"\"<\/a> through 2nd and 3rd quarter, and individual check ins occur weekly based on self-referrals, parent referrals, or faculty referrals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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As a way to track students’ feelings, 4th-8th grade students filled out a check-in form every few weeks on which they shared things that were going well, things that were going not so well, as well as which feelings they have been experiencing. At the bottom of the form, students can request a follow-up from myself, the classroom teachers, or the church pastors. To view this form, click here.<\/a> A Spanish copy can be viewed by the following link as it aided in engaging across multi-cultural systems: Student Check-in Form (Spanish Version)<\/a>. Students can also receive a check-in from a teacher referral, parent referral, or social worker initiated. The link to the parent and teacher referral form are available on my email signature as pictured below:<\/p>\n

Kind Regards,<\/i><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Bree Adams, BSW<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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School Social Work Master’s Intern\/Student Support Services<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Collegedale Academy Elementary\/Middle School, Standifer Gap SDA School<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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