Mount Marty University is proud to announce Yankton’s Behavioral Health Experiential Student Training (BEST): A Multi-Sector Consortium for High School Career Pathways in a Rural Upper Midwest Community. Yankton’s BEST aims to strengthen behavioral health education, prevention and workforce pathways in Yankton and the surrounding rural communities.
Yankton’s BEST is in the beginning stages of a three-year grant opportunity through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Rural Communities Opioid Response Program and was created in collaboration with Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Lewis & Clark Behavioral Health Services, Mount Marty and the Yankton School District. More than $1 million was awarded to Avera Sacred Heart Hospital through this grant, and about $350,000 of the award is going to Mount Marty.
Mount Marty Dean of Undergraduate Studies Nicholas Shudak, Ph.D., said, “I am excited by this unique grant. Writing the grant with our partners was energizing. The process made me feel that we are truly trying to do something impactful for our region in the behavioral health field.”
Recently, Mount Marty hired Whitney Schroeder as the behavioral health education teacher and liaison for Yankton’s BEST. Schroeder will be building a curricular and experiential behavioral health pathway from middle school through high school and into postsecondary education. Schroeder, as a representative of Mount Marty University, will be working with the grant partners: Avera Sacred Heart, Lewis & Clark Behavioral Health Services and Yankton School District, as well as other organizations in town such as the Human Services Center to actively set up pathways for students at their location. As part of Schroeder’s work with the Yankton School District, she is scheduled to teach a dual-credit Psychology 101 course this fall at Yankton High School, as well as work within the high school to coordinate internships, clubs and other activities related to the behavioral health field.
Avera Sacred Heart Hospital Director of Volunteer Services and Project Director for the Yankton’s BEST grant Carla Hummel said, “I am very excited to help develop the pathways needed to get students interested in mental health careers. I look forward to the benefits that our community will receive through the three-year work plan associated with this grant.”
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provided financial support for Yankton’s BEST at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital. The award covers 100% of the total costs and totaled $1.147 million.