- Ann Lippincott, former Associate Director of the Teacher Education Program at the University of California (Santa Barbara) and current Mental Wellness Center Board President
Important Media
Please watch this short video, which gives a great overview of our program, now in its sixth year!
This video first appeared on KEYT's segment "What's Right With Your Community." (June 2011)
Thank you KEYT (Channel 3) for covering What's Right With Your Community!
This teacher/student-focused video was produced by the Santa Barbara County Education Office (AY 2012 - 2013).
Mental Health Matters teaches students facts about mental health problems, leading to the understanding that schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anorexia, bulimia, attention deficit and anxiety disorders are treatable and can happen to anyone – even children and young people. The program helps students to:
- Fight stigma and ignorance that surround mental health disorders
- Learn the warning signs and symptoms of specific mental health problems
- Understand that mental health disorders are treatable
Initially developed in collaboration with the Goleta Union School District, Mental Health Matters is designed for sixth grade and middle school students. In just the past four years, more than 1300 students in four local school districts (Cold Spring, Hope, Goleta Union and Santa Barbara) have participated in Mental Health Matters. Each of the five, 45-minute lesson units provides hands-on learning activities and video presentations introducing basic facts concerning mental health and mental health disorders.
The Mental Wellness Center offers participating classrooms the support of a teaching team, trained to teach Mental Health Matters. This team meets with each teacher to tailor the learning activities to meet the needs of the students in each classroom, reinforcing the skills students are learning in the English Language Arts.
In addition to introducing basic mental health knowledge, this program aims to benefit personal awareness of young people and their families to mental health issues, as problems often develop during adolescence and early adulthood.
“The curriculum was fantastic as it is activity based and engaging for the students. The students participated in their own learning the whole way through. They took the activities seriously, asked insightful questions, and responded to each other beautifully.”
- Jackie Bluestein, fifth and sixth grade Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) teacher at Washington Elementary
