MCPS will host Mental Health Awareness Week from October 26–31 with a weeklong expo, including Zoom workshops, a resource fair, breakout sessions and question-and-answer session. Some workshops will be available in multiple languages. All workshops and activities throughout the week will be held virtually.
The free event, hosted by MCPS and the Montgomery County Psychologists’ Association, is open to staff, students and their families.
The week kicks off on Monday, Oct. 26 with keynote speaker Jill Haak Bohnenkamp, an assistant professor and core faculty member at the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Each day will feature breakout sessions on a variety of topics. Topics will include coping with COVID-19; suicide awareness and prevention; healthy living; dealing with change; the impact of exercise; cybercivility and cybersafety; and domestic violence.
The week culminates on Saturday, Oct. 31 with a live virtual resource fair and a question-and-answer webinar.
Many community and governmental organizations will provide information during the resource fair. Among them: Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services; EveryMind; RAP/The Landing; Family Services, Inc.; BTheOne; Montgomery County Crisis Center, Caring Matters and Our Minds Matter.
If MCPS students virtually participate in Mental Health Awareness activities, they may earn up to five Student Service Learning (SSL) hours for advocacy and for raising awareness about the important topics covered. Students will be asked to listen to the sessions and complete a Google form, reflecting on the information they learned and how they will use that information to benefit their school community.
Stay tuned; additional details will be published in a future Bulletin.
