We love a success story!
When Barb Buffington noticed a need in her district, she and her MCPASD team got to work. She recognized the impact of mental health on our students' success and wanted to do more to help.
Doing what academics do best, she began researching. It was then that she came across the Dane County and DPI mental health grants. Noting the opportunity, the team put in the work to write and submit the applications.
We are now pleased to announce that the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School district was awarded the DPI mental health grant of $75,000 per year for the next two years. Combined with the Dane County mental health grant we received in May, the district will receive a total of $222,101 to utilize over the next two years.
This is a win for the entire district. By collaborating with our community health agencies, these funds will be used to screen and provide services for students with emotional and mental health needs.
Staff will also be trained using Mental Health First Aid to recognize signs of mental health crisis and respond appropriately. We will continue our trauma-sensitive school training, restorative practices training, and small group social-emotional learning (SEL) intervention groups.
We are fortunate to provide compassion resilience and coaching training for parents and caregivers. This includes the much-needed intensive, evidence-based interventions for high school level students.
"My focus is on the students in everything that I do. I applied for this grant because it is what was needed for our kids; this is important work," said Barb. "We are thankful to have opportunities such as this to provide our students with the help they need to continue to grow. We look forward to the upcoming school year and are proud of our MCPASD family for always doing what is best for our students."