MASON, Ohio — Every school year comes with its challenges for students. This is no different for the band at Mason City Schools, who started their year Monday.
Last week, the band received lessons in mental health and identifying students in crisis.
"We want to make sure that when we are asking them to share so much of their time and their energy and their intelligence with us that we are giving them tools to help them manage all the different things that the district is doing and asking of them," said Mason Bands Director, Ed Protzman.
The band sought the guidance of 1 N 5, a group that offers mental health education to schools. 1 N 5 stands for the statistic that 1 in 5 adults and adolescents have a mental health condition.
"Its a suicide gatekeeper training," said 1 N 5 Operations Manager, Beth Dulle. "It tells people the signs and symptoms to look for someone who may be in a mental health crisis or suicidal."
The training was not only for students, but also teachers who may be suffering.
"A lot of them are really concerned for their own mental health," said Dulle. "Just the transition, some of them are just coming back from being in that hybrid situation."
According to Dulle, stress from school is not the only factor at play as COVID is still affecting many.
"We all have our mental health struggles, and I think we have all been impacted by COVID," she said. "But with teachers, you have that added layer of their mental health and then they have to take care of the kids."
As well as the training, the 1 N 5 group also offers an app. This app is aimed to be a hub for all metal health resources and a direct dial list for students and staff to call when in a crisis.
"It's to try to make sure that students have the tools and the resources available to make their school year a place where they can navigate their ups and downs with assistance and training so it'snot traumatic," said Dulle.
The "1 N 5 Reachout" app can be downloaded for free on the app store.
Visit the 1 N 5 website here.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call the national crisis lifeline at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org
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