ICYMI – Recent Adolescent Health News and Resources – Sept 17

There is a lot of news happening and it can be challenging to keep up with it. Every few weeks we will share a blog post with recent resources and new articles that may benefit your work.

Distance Learning, Schools Opening, and Mental Health

If you’re looking for COVID-19 Resources for your arts classroom or program, this Google spreadsheet has a lot of helpful assets.

Twenty-eight middle and high school teachers (including Sohum Bhatt from Wallenberg High School in San Francisco ) from The New York Times Teaching Project tell us how they’re navigating remote instruction this fall.

Sometimes it takes a phone call to get to the bottom of why a student is struggling with online learning. This piece from Edutopia focuses on how phone calls can help engage with some students.

Edutopia continues topics on communication by looking at how schools around the country have implemented new strategies for communicating with families during distance learning.

Educator Shea Martin shared a twitter thread on pronouns, the language around pronouns, and ensuring students are comfortable to share.

Health Resources

Berkeley Media Studies Group created a new tip sheet that provides recommendations and examples to help local health departments and health practitioners communicate about masks amid misinformation.

Many states and school districts bring in outside speakers to help deliver sex education to their students. Advocates for Youth, SIECUS, and Cardea Services created a toolkit to help school districts as they consider working with outside speakers.

Amaze compiled mental health resources to create an Emotional Health Toolkit. It’s a guide for young people and educators.

“What You Can Do to Prevent Suicide: Warning Signs, Risk Factors, Support in a Crisis” is a resource from NAMI California that has helpful information and additional sources for readers.

Personal Stories

“As someone with ADHD, learning online doesn’t come easy,” says 17-year-old Daisy Okazaki. Daisy’s story, published by YR Media, helps to highlight how some students that are feeling left out during the transition to distance learning.

Civic Engagement and Advocating for Health

The election is coming up soon! To help educators prepare, Teaching Tolerance created several resources to help students recognize the value of a diverse democracy in their classrooms, schools, and communities.

• Professional development resources that include best practices and strategies for building community, tailoring instruction, and engaging families and communities throughout the election season
• Resources and lessons for teaching about voter suppression and how it shapes elections today
• “Teach This” discussion guides are easily adapted for in-person, asynchronous, or virtual learning

Upcoming Events

School Health on the Frontlines Oct. 6-8

The California School-Based Health Alliance’s virtual statewide conference from October 6-8 is a place for school health providers and supporters to connect, learn, and grow as we face unprecedented challenges. The year’s event is focused on how to provide critical support and health care access to the students most impacted by the intersecting pandemics of COVID-19 and the public health crisis of racism.