2019-2020 Newsletter OXNARD UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT High Expectations and Powerful Futures for EVERY Student! Visit us online at www.oxnardunion.org OUHSD: 309 S. K St, Oxnard CA 93030/ (805) 385-2500 1 Message From The Superintendent Dear Students and Families: Life as a high school student was stressful enough before the COVID-19 pandemic shook our world. Even before the pandemic, we knew that life itself and all its stressors posed a challenge to our students’ mental health. That is why the Oxnard Union High School District introduced Student Intervention Specialists on all of our campuses. The SIS team is there to help students deal with the mental and physical stresses of life as teenagers, and, yes, to deal with the additional stress of remote learning and lack of socialization for our students. The mental health of teens is a major national challenge. Studies show that about 10 million students across the country, ages 13–18, require professional help to deal with their mental health conditions. The most common mental health diagnoses among chil- Superintendent: dren and adolescents are anxiety, depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder Penelope DeLeon (ADHD), and bipolar disorder. Half of all psycho-emotional conditions begin before the age of 14, and 75 percent by the age of 24 and often begin to materialize in the classroom. It could be that a once-successful student is now failing, or a student simply cannot sit still or control the urge to disrupt a class. Maybe a once active student-athlete appears to have lost interest, or a student who has always been something of a loner now talks about doing harm to himself or to others. “One in five students in this country need treatment,” says Dr. David Anderson, senior director of the Institute’s ADHD and Behavior Disorders Center. “We are seeing a real movement to properly and systematically tackle this crisis, because what these students don’t need is a ‘quick fix.’” Dr. Anderson notes that research shows that a system based on evidence and a whole school approach engages more students academically. Students who receive positive behavioral health interventions see improvements on a range of behaviors related to academic achievement, beyond letter grades or test scores, said Dr. Anderson. OUHSD is fortunate to have a talented group of SIS team members whom you will meet in this newsletter. We have partnered with several private and public mental health agencies to bring to our students the counseling and pro- fessional help they need in order to succeed. In addition to the addition of our SIS team, this has also been a big year for OUHSD. On Feb. 12, we broke ground on Del Sol High School, the county’s newest high school. Our Measure A monies are also funding dozens of mod- ernization projects in progress as we speak…from secure lobbies, to new roofs, to new turf fields to brand new HVAC systems. Measure A is making sure all our students have the buildings and infrastructure in place for success. We thank OUHSD voters once again for approving Measure A. OUHSD Administrators OUHSD Board of Trustees Superintendent of Schools Assist. Superintendent, H.R. Karen M. Sher, President Dr. Penelope De Leon Dr. Deborah Salgado Dr. Gary Davis, Vice President Beatriz R. Herrera, Clerk Assist. Superintendent, Ed. Services Assist. Superintendent, Business Services Dr. Steve Hall, Member Dr. Thomas McCoy Mr. Jeff Weinstein Wayne Edmonds, Member Newsletter design and translation: Rafael Cahue (SIS RMHS) Writer: Tim Gallager 2 OUHSD Takes Student Mental Health Head On A student is being bullied both in-person and online. With nowhere else to turn and nothing to look forward to, this stu- dent writes a social media post saying she wants to take her own life. Another student faces life as a teenage mother–not because of her own pregnancy but because her own mother is dying and about to leave her in charge of three younger siblings. A third student is paralyzed with anxiety. He is excellent academically. He excels in extra curricular activities and volun- teers in a local homeless shelter. But he feels it’s not enough to get into the college of his choice. He is wracked with anx- ious feelings about being denied access to the college of his choice. These are the students who often slipped through the cracks in prior years. The growing number of responsibilities that high school academic counselors have, do not always provide enough time to address more intense social- emotional issues. Mental health community based organizations did not always have a school based liaison, therefore students did not always have access to the mental health system. But now the Oxnard Union High School District, as part of its Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports program, has installed Student Intervention Specialists (SIS) on all cam- puses. Think of them like triage officials for student mental health. Teachers and counselors are still the first line of de- fense for student support, while the SIS focus on more intense Tier II social emotional concerns. They help students work through everything from stress, online bullying to thoughts of suicide. James Koenig, the director of student support services at OUHSD, says the challenges the SIS team faces fall into five ma- jor categories: 1. Emotional issues among the students (problems with other students including harassment) 2. Home/family conflict 3. Academics 4. Home situations including foster youth, migrant students, homelessness or students moving because of family in the military 5. Substance Abuse (including the rise in vaping) Our team has an open door policy and 80 percent of the time, they are doing direct services with students,” Koenig said. But most campuses have professional resources on campus from outside public and private agencies to which they can refer students who need additional care. The program is coming along at the right time. Rafael Cahue, SIS at Rio Mesa High School, said, “When this position was created, some people at the schools thought we would only be serving a very small number of students. But within a month at RMHS, I had a line of students in tears out- side my office”. Caroline Gonella, SIS at Rancho Campana High School, said, “Data will show that in many ways kids are healthier than they were–drugs, alcohol, teen pregnancy. What is becoming exponentially worse is their mental health. Girls have high- er rates of depression, anxiety, suicide ideation.” Asked what’s different about teenagers today than their parents’ generation, most members of the SIS team answered in two words: “Social media.” “There is no turning it off. Students use their phones as an alarm clock, so it is the first thing they see in the morning,” said Elizabeth Tobias, SIS at Condor High School Options Academy. Tobias said, “Students struggle with social skills. The phone makes them isolated.” A small disagreement can lead to a major verbal or physical confrontation due to a social media post. At Rio Mesa, most often these conflicts begin because of what one student says on social media and is then read by hun- Article continued on following page 3 Continued: OUHSD Takes Student Mental Health Head On dreds of other students, many of which are not even from our school. But Cahue says that when students get together in his office for a Restorative Justice Circle they tend to talk things through. “This is teaching them a lifelong communication skill they may not learn anywhere else.” The situation has changed dramatically in the past few years, said Ester Dominguez, SIS at Pacifica High School. “Remember what it was like when you were in high school in terms of stress and anxiety? Now think of it five times harder. If we want our students to be successful in life, we have to teach and coach them on taking care of their social and emotional needs as well.” “Our kids have gone through a lot,” said Sara Bustamante, SIS of Hueneme High School. “In addition to all the normal troubles that kids face with drugs, gangs and alcohol, many of these kids are in family situations in which they need to take care of siblings before they are really able to take care of themselves.” Detra Young, SIS at Adolfo Camarillo High School, finds that the physical setting is so important. The Wellness Center at ACHS is painted in soothing colors. There is comfortable seating. Tangible items. Kinetic sand. Stress balls. Allowing stu- dents a safe place to de-stress. Oxnard High School’s SIS, Judith Isaac states “students at OHS are learning more about the position and seeking out ser- vices. OHS students have also started a mental health awareness group that’s growing. Ivan Kozin at Channel Island High School said, “We have been more effective in our second year. There’s been an in- crease in the number of parents and students asking for this service. Any student going through a crisis is referred to me. It is slowly growing to be more of a known position.” “If a student is struggling with their mental health, it is likely they will also struggle in other aspects of their life, including their academics,” said Mónica Robles, SIS at Frontier High School. “I take pride in the fact that students know, and share with their friends, that my office is a safe space on campus they can go to when in a mental health crisis.” The SIS team agreed that on each campus, the more that is known about the program, the more popular it becomes. The stigma around mental health lessens.