REGISTER FOR THE FALL 2025 COE FORUM
MEETING STUDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES: CLASSROOM, SCHOOL, POLICY INTERVENTIONS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 5:30 PM – 7 PM (CST)
Recent research studies and reports have documented increased mental health concerns for our children and teens. Major administration and legislative cuts to school mental health funding, Medicaid, CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program), and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) portend a growing crisis.
The fall forum will discuss recent studies that indicate growing mental health issues for our students, look at multiple causes, and explain how recent administration and congressional actions will exacerbate the problem. What are teachers and school counselors observing? What is the way forward? What strategies, plans, and ideas for both classroom and school interventions can address these challenges?
The panel includes:
- Dr. Micere Keels, Associate Professor at the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago, will be our keynote speaker. She is also the founding director of the Trauma Responsive Educational Practices Project (TREP Project) https://voices.uchicago.edu/coed/micere-keels/
- Michelle Hughes, Michelle Clark High School, Chicago. English teacher.
- Lissette Flores, Grissom Elementary School, Chicago. School counselor.
- Darrick Tovar-Murray, Moderator
This is an issue that will impact all our students, whether studying to be school counselors, teachers, or administrators. Please consider bringing your class if you teach on Tuesday evenings, and please encourage students in your courses to attend.
The forum is virtual, livestreamed on YouTube. Registration is required.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coe-fall-forum-meeting-students-mental-health-challenges-tickets-1681317890069?aff=oddtdtcreator
For some additional reading, see:
“Cuts to School Mental Health Funding and Threats to Medicaid/CHIP: A Growing Crisis for Children” by First Focus on Children.
“In Their Own Words: Young Voices on Mental Health and the Future” by Hopelab
“Chicago students feeling fear, frustration amid ICE raids and threats of National Guard deployment” by Chicago Sun-Times
For more information, contact Diane Horwitz, Coordinator, Education Issues Forums at dhorwit1@depaul.edu