Miguel Cardona, the Secretary of Education, went to schools in Las Vegas to listen to students discuss the educational setbacks they faced over the pandemic months. Cardona rhetorically told Spring Valley High School students that it has been a rough couple of years for them, and the students concurred. Cardona also made it a point to appreciate the students for their resilience to the challenges in the epidemic period.
He came from DC to the city to discover the social and academic needs of students in the period after coronavirus-induced lockdowns. He paid attention to mental health while addressing Spring Valley High School students.
A student panel told Cardona that Senator Jacky Rosen how teachers and counselors reached out to them during online school hours last year. It was not an easy time for them.
Senior Student Nykita Rustad stated that the so-called Hope Squad was among the best means of handling the pandemic-induced isolation issue. The Hope Squad was a unique suicide prevention program. The panel keeps connecting with students who require emotional support.
As for Nykita, it is still challenging to make connections for students. Senior class president Nathan Alemeseged stated that his peers found it tough to open up and that they do not appear as comfortable as in the past at school.
Students Alijah Adem and Madeline Virissimo stated that sports mattered for them from a social engagement perspective. Another student, named Miguel Torres, stated that extracurricular activities offered a space zone for students. Torres said that school is the place in which many students could express themselves. As for Torres, it has been challenging to re-establish and rebuild that after a long period of online education without extracurricular activities.
Students let school staffers know what they felt in the pandemic with a color-coded and internet-based screening system. If the students rated themselves red or yellow, counselors would reach out to them, which surprised some students.
Alemeseged stated that he thought that counselors were only doing their job, but in distance learning hours he found their concern to be real. Virissimo knew her history teacher only through her laptop in the coronavirus pandemic year, but they now greet each other in an in-person environment.
Spring Valley High School cuonselor Natalie McLintock stated that it would be ideal to have a licensed therapist at the school for a situation that goes beyond the job of a counselor. This kind of professional undertakes wide-ranging tasks, including making people ready for college or a career. Her fellow counsellor John Tyler of Spring Valley High School agreed to her view.
Administrators, teachers and even counselors have different things to do, but they cannot do those at the same time. Students approach them with an array of problems that were non-existent some years before. It means that the pandemic brought those issues out.
The Las Vegas visit of Cardona came around 14 days after Senators Lisa Murkowski and Rosen introduced the Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Act. It is a bill that would direct funding from the federal government to schools with students from kindergarten through twelfth grade for suicide prevention and the promotion of mental health.
The federal funding may be available to college and university students but not to younger students. As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden made it an election campaign promise to double the mental health professional count in schools.
Rosen said that senators like her wish to ensure that students are OK as well as that they want students to be aware that they are there for students.
Cardona stated that schools have to be open to students and that students should catch up with academics after the epidemic-induced closures. Cardona added that it is apparent that relationships are important for students as well.
Describing school reopening as a starting point, Cardona stated that schools should do better. He reckons that students and parents deserve better schools in the future. The United States has been through much, but Cardona stated that pandemic relief funds are available now, alongside strong leadership. Cardona regards offering mental health as a more important aspect of education going forward.
