The Knoxville Community School District has received a Wellmark Foundation grant aimed at mental and behavioral health.
The district submitted their application for this grant in May and was told they were on a waitlist and last Thursday the district got the phone call that they were selected. The grant will be funded for the next four years. The School-Centered Behavioral Health Grant will support rural Iowa school districts, providing timely and convenient access to mental and behavioral health services.
Iowa youth face significant mental, behavioral and physical health challenges. In the past five years, approximately 20 percent of Iowa high school students reported seriously considering suicide, and around 40 percent reported experiencing persistent sadness, according to a release from Wellmark. Knoxville Superintendent Cassi Pearson this grant will help students work on personal skills when it comes to behavior strategies.
“Our application specifically wrote the grant for West and Northstar Elementaries to get some additional support to help our students to gain some personal skills on how to maybe descalate if you are overstimulated or really upset about something.”
Hear more about the grant from Pearson on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.