Bright Light Take a look at Vidor ISD’s mental health program.

BrightLight

Vidor ISD’s mental health programming reaches children in a new way.

by Sally Andrews Director of Community Relations Vidor ISD

Bullying. Divorce. Mental or physical abuse. Death. Sexual trauma. Gender identity. Cutting. Poverty. Substance abuse. Social issues. Excessive truancy. Low self-esteem.

Incarcerated parents. Obsessive/compulsive disorder. Anxiety. Depression. Suicidal ideation.

It’s a wonder that students come to school and can learn anything at all. Their backpacks are full of much more than books … they also carry the pain of broken lives and shattered hearts.

How do we encourage a child to dream when his life consists mostly of nightmares? How can a child grow to be a caring adult when the primary adults in his life may seem to care so little about them? How can a child see the possibility of a future filled with success when living in the grip of extreme poverty? And perhaps the greatest question of all: What can we, as educators … as school districts … do about any of it?

In 2017, Vidor Independent School District lost two of its seven campuses to the intense flooding of Hurricane Harvey. In addition, about seventyfive percent of Vidor’s residents had stormdamaged homes, with most having no flood insurance. They watched in terror and despair as floodwaters rose a foot, 2 feet, 3 feet and sometimes as high as 7 or 8 feet.

Picture for a moment a family living on the cusp of poverty, barely able to pay the bills, keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Aug. 17, 2017, brought nightmares in the form of unrelenting rain, airboat rescues and loss of possessions. The family on the brink of a disaster had, indeed, just met disaster head-on.

Students began their school year three weeks late, and many were in situations with 40 students to a classroom communally utilized by two teachers. It was close to Thanksgiving before the two flooded campuses had portable facilities that could be called their own spaces. Many of those children, who already carried grief and trauma in spades, suddenly had even more to deal with. Their homes were lost, they were living at Granny’s house with sixteen others, their clothing, toys and school supplies had all been washed away. Dad’s job site closed due to flood damage. Mom’s car was ruined. The burdens they carried grew exponentially, and like stacking building blocks, the tower of pain was ready to topple at any moment.

Vidor ISD recognized the mental and emotional needs of these students and began a behavioral health program that is now in its fourth year. It was a fortuitous move. The town suffered Hurricane Imelda two years later, in which many flooded once again. Of course, there was COVID-19, then a severe ice storm. It seems, indeed, like too much. And it is. For a host of students, the breaking point has come much too early in their young lives.

But some resources were not in place in the preHarvey days now are availabe, and that is, indeed, a very bright light at the end of the tunnel. There are

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five adults who meet regularly to engage in art therapy, play therapy and talk therapy with nearly 500 Vidor ISD children and teens who need just that. Students meet on a weekly or bi-weekly basis as needed, with someone always available when a crisis occurs.

Now, you may ask, “What, exactly, is art therapy and how does it work?” Good question, because every single one of our five behavioral specialists utilizes it in one way or another, so there must be something to this art therapy thing! It’s interesting to find that the child who will not open up and talk face-to-face will pour his heart out when working with clay, creating a figure with pipe cleaners or drawing. It’s eyeopening to see what emerges from the psyches of those ‘littles’ as they draw or sculpt, often providing some pretty interesting insight into their situations or the anger they carry.

How do we encourage a child to dream when his life consists mostly of nightmares?

“With the projects chosen,” said art therapist Stacie Jannise, “students are guided and inspired to open up in a relaxing atmosphere.” Opening day exercise is making volcanoes using baking soda, food coloring and vinegar, with a focus on what happens when we keep things inside that need to be shared with someone we trust. As the volcanoes explode, children see the unpredictability and volatility of the project’s result and begin to talk about how their own classroom outbursts mirror these eruptions, how those reactions are unhealthy, how they can appropriately channel their excess energy and how the release of negativity can keep them safe and in a good place for learning.

With sand tray therapy, students intuitively arrange little people, vehicles, animals, homes and other objects, giving the trained therapists some insight into their lives and what’s bothering them. Behavioral specialist Amanda Chism, M.Ed., NCC, LPC Associate said, “Children, even older ones, process their emotions and thoughts through play. Sand tray therapy creates a safe and fun environment where our students can express their emotions and even their subconscious thoughts. It saves time and energy as root issues are often exposed within one to two sessions. But more importantly? They feel seen and heard, even when they do not have the words to express themselves.”

The weekly sessions and in-depth discussions with students find the behavioral team able to offer tools that encourage positive outcomes for children and youth suffering from mental or emotional health issues and support behavior modifications. That student squeezing the stress ball in class? That’s his reminder to control his outbursts. The child blowing through a straw while doing her work? She’s been taught to defray tension and anxiety through breathing exercises, and the straw is her physical tool to help make that happen. The teen who spends her lunch break writing in a journal? She knows that putting her thoughts on paper can give her feelings an outlet that she truly needs.

by Cissa Madero Communications Specialist

Older students, in many cases, can just sit and talk, and that’s valuable progress as well. The students build trust in the therapist, sharing how they suffer verbal abuse at home, how their autism creates challenges with classmates who don’t understand them or how they have always been labeled a ‘bad kid’ and are having a tough time dispelling that image.

Sadly, suicide assessments are performed nearly weekly. So, Vidor ISD has partnered with Utah’s Hope Squad, a suicide prevention program through a grant from a local mental health partner, The Spindletop Center. Hope Squad in Vidor ISD sees 6th–12th graders anonymously voting for the friends and classmates they would be most likely to confide in. Those students receiving the most nominations are asked to accept positions on the Hope Squad and begin training, including how to befriend every single student on campus, what to say when a friend expresses suicidal thoughts and when to call in help from a school counselor or behavioral specialist. The student mentors are encouraged to spend their lunch breaks without phones, creating and fostering relationships instead.

Local community partnerships are also vital to create, maintain and grow a well-rounded program. VISD works with Pregnancy Related Services, Stable-Spirit (equine and hippotherapy) and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. UTMB offers telepsychiatry. Parents can save a trip and the psychiatric cost, visiting, along with their child via computer or cell phone with a doctor who can diagnose, prescribe appropriate medicine if needed and suggest a path of healing through counseling Each of these community partners contributes to Vidor ISD’s behavioral health program when the need arises. In addition to working with these entities, the behavioral specialists are constantly seeking training that will enable them to deal with trauma, abuse and grief.

As well as providing a listening ear for students, the behavioral specialists have done a yeoman’s job of hosting events promoting mental health awareness and acceptance. These events have included not only the partners discussed above but multiple others. One past mental health week included morning yoga, meditation exercises, a Zen room for calming and a wall plastered with sticky notes offering positive reinforcement and saying, “If you need one … take one.” Students held a door decorating contest, and through this simple exercise, were able to learn about mental health issues, the importance of dealing with them and the value of being patient and caring with those who have them. Even staff members got into the game, stopping to note their self-care tactics on a poster in the teacher’s lounge.

Parent nights have been held to address topics such as bullying, affordable family health care, depression and suicide in teens, handling stress in families and healing through the arts. Plans are in the works for a family mental health night. It is slated to include information from local entities who can address mental health needs, family exercises to build relationships and encourage talk and physical exercise to support better overall health. After all, awareness of emotional and mental health issues is critical. If a student doesn’t have his emotions under control, it’s tough for him to learn. And that, of course, is what educators are all about.