May-June Advisor 2021 web

SUPPORTING

4 CEA ADVISOR MAY – JUNE 2021

IN NATIONALLY TELEVISED INTERVIEW, CONNECTICUT TEACHER SHEDS LIGHT ON PANDEMIC TRAUMA

Connecticut’s own 2019 Teacher of the Year Sheena Graham was one of four public school educators from around the country interviewed on CBS This Morning about the ongoing challenges of teaching through a pandemic, the added pressures of standardized testing on students, and more. Eight months after her initial interview, Graham, a veteran choir teacher at Bridgeport’s Harding High School, spoke again with CBS This Morning about the fear and frustration she and her students have faced and what she believes it will take to overcome those hurdles. Describing the worries brought on by COVID cases still surging in Connecticut and nationwide, Graham said, “One student said to me, ‘Are you as afraid to be around me as I am to be around you?’ They take in a lot, and if you’ve really built relationships with students, this is a stressful time for them, being near you when they care about you.” Indeed, before teachers were prioritized for vaccines, students expressed great apprehension about bringing COVID into schools and putting their educators at risk. As for how we should plan for the upcoming school year, Graham emphasized funding for increased mental health services for students and teachers alike. 2021 Connecticut School Counselor of the Year Curtis Darragh, an early- career educator with six years’ experience, has become an outspoken proponent of increasing the number of professionals like him in Connecticut’s public schools. In spite of a heavy caseload—in fact, because of it—he has made himself a presence at Recovery for All rallies, public hearings, and other events calling for adequate mental health supports for students and the Danbury’s Westside Middle School Academy, says he has experienced firsthand the significant challenges of high student-to-counselor ratios. His experience has led him to testify in support of legislation that would provide relief, most recently House Bill 6557: An Act Concerning Social and Emotional Learning. “HB 6557 highlights the need for more school counselors, social workers, and school funding to make that possible. Darragh, a school counselor at

State to Address Student Absenteeism, Disengagement Caused by Pandemic Federal stimulus funds will be used to reconnect with Connecticut K-12 students who were absent or disengaged during the 2020-2021 school year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative, known as the Learner Engagement and Attendance Program (LEAP), targets 15 districts throughout Connecticut with the goal of bringing students back to school for the final months of the school year, supporting their enrollment in summer camps and summer learning programs, and helping with the transition back to school for 2021-2022. Funded with $10.7 million of Connecticut’s federal COVID-19 recovery dollars, LEAP will bring people into homes to connect with students and their families, building a bridge back to the school community. Engaging with families through home visits can also identify the need for behavioral and mental health services, housing, childcare, technology and Internet connectivity, transportation, and additional educational support services. The 15 participating districts are Bridgeport, CREC, Danbury, East Hartford, Hartford, Manchester, Meriden, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Stamford, Torrington, Waterbury, and Windham. If you have felt the weight of the last year and the worry about what’s next, you are not alone. CEA has free resources to help you cope and to identify and assist students similarly impacted by the pandemic. CEA’s Ethnic Minority Affairs Commission held an in- depth workshop, Trauma Today: Future Strategies for You & Your Students, presented by a clinical psychologist and former Connecticut teacher specializing in trauma. (See story, facing page.) Enrollment is also ongoing for Social and Emotional Learning in Times of Uncertainty and Stress: Research-Based Strategies—led by Dr. Marc Brackett and other experts at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. The course will be open through December 2021, and participants can expect to develop a personalized action plan and receive a certificate of completion authorized by Yale. Learn more and register at ycei.org/selcourse .

“I know a lot of teachers who are broken,” she said. “There were days where I thought, ‘I’m not sure I can hold on.’ If I’m honest, you cry a lot in the car.” Graham admitted, with a smile, one of the ways she has found to distract herself from the sheer exhaustion of the last year—a way to keep from crying—is to turn up the music in her car. “This is embarrassing, but I’m going to tell you. If you’ve ever seen the show The Office , one of the characters—Dwight—would go out on sales calls, and he would sit in the car and headbang. This is my first time in my life becoming a headbanger.” Committee earlier this legislative session. “The work that I do has increased in difficulty with our growing population, expanding caseload, and educational demands, and Connecticut needs to reshape the way we handle the growing needs of our children. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the mental health needs in many of our students, across all backgrounds. We need to start thinking of the future and the long-term assistance school counselors can provide, because the pandemic will have lingering effects on our students and their families.” Counselors also are spending more

Even better, she adds, “You get those moments when a kid just speaks from the heart and says, ‘You’re making a difference.’ That’s what helps you to hold on.” Watch the entire interview at cea.org/ graham-cbs-this-morning .

HB 6621, which contains many provisions for social emotional supports for students, passed the House and has moved to the Senate. Ask your state senator to support this bill. Use the legislator lookup tool at cea.org > Legislative > Find Your Legislators .

SCHOOL COUNSELOR OF THE YEAR DESCRIBES INCREASING STUDENT NEEDS

and more time meeting the social emotional needs of students, Darragh says, and they are seeing a significant rise in anxiety and depression diagnoses with students, as well as a rise in special education referrals. Unaddressed mental health issues, he adds, have led to suicidal ideation in some students. Missing that one student—among a caseload of 375—is one of his biggest fears. “From our poorest to our wealthiest districts, school counselors are needed now more than ever, and in greater numbers than we currently have. We need to prioritize our students’ social and emotional needs, which means committing state and federal dollars to that priority.”

37th Connecticut’s ranking in the country for average counselor- to-student ratios

457:1 Average student-to- school-counselor ratio in Connecticut, as of 2018-2019

psychologists,” he told lawmakers in

a virtual public hearing of the Education

250:1 Recommended ratio of students to school counselors

Curtis Darragh says the ratio of students to school counselors (as high as 400:1 in districts such as Danbury) is unsustainable, particularly in the wake of a pandemic.