HAMPTON — Superintendent Meredith Nadeau is pleased to share that Winnacunnet High School students are participating in National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Connect Youth Leader Training.
11 Winnacunnet High School students in Grades 10-12 and 12 staff members participated in the Connect Youth Leader Training in December.
The Connect Youth Leader program engages a core group of youth leaders, in partnership with trained adults, to co-facilitate the Connect curriculum for other teen youth. Youth leaders learn to co-present the Connect training through activities and rehearsing sections of the training, while Connect staff observe, interact, and provide coaching.
Youth Leader training emphasizes that the role of youth is to seek help from a trusted adult when there is a concern, not take on the role of a counselor.
Students were able to participate thanks to Seacoast Women's Giving Circle, which approached Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Mary Toomey asking to provide the Connect Youth Leader training to Winnacunnet students.
Participants had their first follow up meeting in the first week back from holiday break. Students are preparing to teach the mental health unit in the sophomore wellness classes in the next few weeks and have also planned other meaningful action steps to broaden their impact across the school including creating media and presentations for first year classes and ensuring participation in the Superintendent's Student Leadership Team.
"The Connect Youth student leaders are fired up in the best way possible! We are so proud of their dedication and passion to help others, which was demonstrated by their enthusiasm to participate in the Connect Youth Leader Training," said WHS Social Worker Talley Westerberg. "We cannot wait to see what they come up with for their future training sessions!"