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Mostly Cloudy Focusing on students' mental health
Elmont schools add counselors to monitor children’s well-being
The mental health of a majority of high school and college students across the country has been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a number of surveys of students conducted since the health crisis began over 18 months ago.
Elmont schools responded by adding three new school counselors for the 2021-22 school year. “Additional counselors were brought in to ensure the social-emotional well-being of both students and staff,” the Elmont Union Free School District said in a statement.
According to a survey conducted by Active Minds, a nonprofit that works to raise awareness of the mental health of college students in particular, the pandemic has negatively impacted 80 percent of the university students it polled. Additionally, 20 percent reported that their mental health had worsened significantly during the crisis, citing increased levels of stress, anxiety, disappointment, sadness and loneliness or isolation.
High school students also report more mental health problems. A study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 81 percent of Generation Z teenagers, ages 13 to 17, have experienced more intense school-related stress during the pandemic.
The Elmont district’s decision to add school counselors is part of a trend among Long Island school districts. A survey conducted by the Long Island Education Coalition found that 60 of Long Island’s 124 public school districts anticipate the addition of a total of 73 positions this year.
“More than half of college students surveyed say that they would not know where to go if they or someone they knew needed professional mental health services right away,” said Laura Horne, chief program officer of Active Minds, in a statement on the nonprofit’s website. That finding, Horne said, demonstrates “the importance of regular, clear, compassionate communication regarding mental health resources and academic options.”
According to the Elmont district’s statement, the new school counselors are expected to provide individual and group counseling as well as parent workshops. They will work with students on social-emotional learning, acclimating to in-person instruction after virtual education during the pandemic, transitioning sixth-graders to the Sewanhaka Central High School District and more.
The three counselors, Nicole Castagnozzi, Paola Molina and Lymari Tattnall, will “work closely with school psychologists, guidance counselors, social workers and principals in an effort to “best support the students and see what might be needed schoolwide,” the statement read.
Castagnozzi will work at the Covert Avenue and Stewart Manor schools, while Molina will work at the Alden Terrace and Gotham Avenue schools, and Lymari Tattnall will work at Dutch Broadway School. The district’s existing counselor, Jaclyn Dias-Hansen, has worked at all six district schools, but is now at Clara H. Carlson School and Dutch Broadway.
The statement added that the district hoped that the new counselors’ efforts would also enhance students’ work in the classroom, which studies have found is impacted by disturbances to emotional well-being. Indeed, a study found in Sage Journals found that over 80 percent of students with emotional and behavioral disorders scored below the average student in reading, writing and math.
“We believe that school counselors are an amalgamation of a clinician and a classroom teacher,” said David Spinnato, the district’s director of technology and curriculum. “They have a large skill set,” he added of the new counselors.
“I think counseling helps bridge the gap between the difficulties the students are having and reaching their academic goals,” Tattnall said. “Sometimes the difficulties that they may be having in school or at home can hinder their ability to concentrate in class. By us talking to them about their situation, we’re able to help them with coping skills.”
