Woodward Career Technical High School looking to invest in teacher mental health through new space

CINCINNATI — Woodward Career Technical High School is trying something new to prevent teacher burnout and turnover, partnering with MindPeace to create a mental health space for staff.

It’s been school psychologist Jacquline Gajus's dream for 15 years.

"We’ve never had one place where it was staff only," Gajus said. "I always thought it would be great to have a place where we have in-house support for them."

Gajus said faculty and staff take breaks in their cars, walk around the school or step outside to get out of the school environment.

"Teachers are not appreciated as much as they should be and I feel like this is something where it’s showing that teachers are a priority," she said.

Teacher Ronald Smith helped build the room.

"It’s needed, and I feel honored to be a part of it — to have had a part in doing this — because we go through a lot, let’s face it ... and still we need a space that we can come and decompress and rejuvenate and get refocused," Smith said.

Becoming a teacher was always Smith’s goal. He said this space will help him and his coworkers refocus and decompress.

The mental health room has two massage chairs, a meditation prompt device, a coffee bar, an exercise bike, a place to do yoga, a workspace for teachers to read or draw, some tables for teachers to collaborate and a dining table for them to enjoy a meal.

"The amenities that it offers will at least allow you to take that time that you need out of your classroom and away from your students to just say 'OK, I’m ready to go back and do what I do and give it my best,'" he said.

Principal Sam Yates is hopeful this space will help with recruitment and retention.

"Hopefully the stuff that we do for teachers that will make you want to be here, you know the excitement that we do and the way we care about our teachers," Yates said. "This room hopefully will say 'Hey, they care about us, they care about our mental health, we want to be here.'"

Yates believes this space will be a positive thing for teachers and staff at Woodward.

"The key is building morale, building morale, you know so the turnover won’t be great, you know, because some people get into education and say ‘oh, wow this is a lot of work’ you know, and it is a lot of work," Yates said.

Cincinnati Federation of Teachers President Julie Sellers said this new teacher space will be beneficial, especially after a difficult few years at the school.

"They’ve had a rough few years recently since COVID and so they were having huge turnover numbers of teachers," she said.

The state education department reports teachers leaving the profession was at a six-year high in the 2021-2022 school year. A 2023 Rand Corporation study shows 23% of teachers considered leaving the job at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

Sellers said school districts across the country are trying to navigate the teacher shortage.

"Last year, there were only about 40 teachers who retired, and we hired about 300 and we still have openings," she said. "Where are all of the teachers going? They’re either leaving our district or leaving the profession."

Sellers said there aren’t enough college students wanting to become teachers. She said when she visits nearby universities, the number of students wanting to become teachers is reducing.

Keeping teachers is more crucial than ever. Gajus said staff need to know they matter. And the impact of the room, she said, will be felt throughout the school.

"I really think that is going to trickle down to the classroom," Gajus said. "Their needs are being met, they had a stressful day, they come in here for five minutes, they feel a little bit better, they’re more able to handle situations in the classroom."

MindPeace is also working on adding two more mental health spaces for students at the high school and middle school. The organization has created over 60 mental health rooms in the Greater Cincinnati area.