Commerce City, CO: District proposes 2 programs to address mental health, help kids cope with stres

May 25, 2018, Chalkbeat, Commerce City, CO: Adams 14 proposing expanding mindfulness and other programs for student well-being https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2018/05/25/adams-14-proposing-expanding-mindfulness-and-other-programs-for-student-well-being/ The Adams 14 school district is proposing an expansion next year of mental health staffing and two programs, including mindfulness, meant to help students get out of “crisis mode.” After significant pushback in the current year on cuts that were meant to have schools sharing mental health professionals, every school will have their own next year. Kim Cini, the district’s assistant director of student services believes, however, that the work of helping students with mental health problems, can’t be only the responsibility of a particular staff member in a school. “You are never going to have enough mental health workers, ever. You just aren’t,” Cini said. … That belief is behind Cini’s push to introduce mindfulness programming in the district’s middle schools. That programming is meant to teach students to also take charge of their own mental well-being and to teach them ways to cope with stress. In elementary school, Cini helped introduce a curriculum called Random Acts of Kindness to help younger children learn social and emotional skills including coping with trauma, a common challenge for students in the district where more than 86 percent qualify for free or reduced price lunch, a measure of poverty. …