Over the past six months several members of our Mizzou Academy faculty and staff have received professional training in mental health first aid, medical first aid, and CPR. This training is consistent with our strategic initiative to support lifelong learning. It also furthers our work around care.

Mental Health First Aid

In the spring of 2024, three members of the Mizzou Academy Administrative Team–Dr. Kathryn Fishman-Weaver, Stephanie Walter, and Tami Regan–joined a group of faculty and staff from the College of Education and Human Development to complete Mental Health First Aid Training.  

According to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, “Mental Health First Aid [Training] is an evidence-based, early-intervention course that teaches participants about mental health and substance use challenges.” To date, more than three million people across the United States have been trained in Mental Health First Aid. 

“As educators (and human beings), we know that mental health matters.” says Executive Director, Dr. Kathryn Fishman-Weaver. “At Mizzou Academy, we train our instructors to recognize what we call ‘care flags’ and report those with compassion. We work across teams to wrap support around young people who are navigating big challenges like trauma, grief, and loss. We also strive to be there in the times when they are navigating the everyday stresses of peer and family relationships, perfectionism, and workloads that can feel overwhelming. With over 7,000 students in our global school system, this is a big charge, and it is one we all take seriously.” 

This fall, Mizzou Academy welcomed several new staff and faculty members to our expanded team. Part of our orientation includes teaching newcomers about our care practices and mental health supports. Amelia Howser, the newest member of our counseling team, is completing this orientation now. She has shared that she appreciates the focus on wellness at Mizzou Academy. “Mental health is the foundation of any meaningful learning,” says Howser, “and it can be invisible if school leaders aren’t intentional about checking in, establishing wellness routines, and being a role model for students on how to  maintain their own mental health. Having faculty and staff who understand this, and create learning spaces where mental health is a priority, lead to better learning outcomes for all students.” 

The Mizzou Academy admin team hopes that courses like Mental Health First Aid Training equips us to continue in this work. “Together,” Dr. Fishman-Weaver shares, “we stitch support across our global community.” This community includes teachers, counselors, support staff, and school leaders. In the coming school year, Dr. Fishman-Weaver and Regan hope to provide Mental Health First Aid Training for all Mizzou Academy faculty and staff.

Heartsaver Training 

As we teach in our high school health course, mental and physical health are closely related.  

Therefore, Mizzou Academy partnered with the Shelden Clinical Simulation Center to offer Heartsaver Training–CPR and First Aid–to our team members. Eight faculty and staff members answered the call. 

Barbie Banks, our Support Services Manager, signed up for the course because she “wants to be useful in emergency situations. And I want that usefulness to have a foundation of accurate medical information.”

The Heartsaver courses are designed for people with little or no medical training. Our two-part class included an online course and an in-person skills session. Our instructor, Eric Mills, works with MU Health and had three decades of experience as a paramedic. He met our team on a sunny afternoon with lots of enthusiasm for the course material. The class began with an overview of the online course content followed by a hands-on CPR experience. 

The Shelden Clinical Simulation Center gave the team access to the most up-to-date simulation mannequins who could “breathe” and give feedback on our CPR technique. A light system helped us perfect our compression pace and depth to ensure that our technique was just right. 

In addition to adult life-saving practices, the team also practiced approaches for infant and child care. Executive Assistant, Dominique King shared that “those simulation babies were so high tech!” Indeed, the light system embedded on the front of the diaper assisted our team in learning CPR for infants. We also discussed what to do when an infant is choking. Tami Regan remarked that this portion of the training was extremely helpful as she appreciated learning differences in processes for infants compared to a child or an adult. 

The class concluded with a focus on first aid. Eric helped us practice with the basics, such as taking off soiled gloves, administering epinephrine, and using a tourniquet. Although some of the topics were quite heavy, our team and Eric brought levity to our learning. As Jean Zenner shared, while Eric taught us life saving skills, we taught him that “Mizzou Academy is full of fun, loving, supportive members. I’m pretty sure we made his day as much as he made ours!”

Thank you to our instructors at the Shelden Clinical Simulation Center for providing this important training. Congratulations to Dominique King, Tami Regan, Barbie Banks, Stephanie Walter, Jean Zenner, Ellie Trick, Dr. Kathryn Fishman-Weaver, and David Prats Vidal on their recent Heartsaver certification! 

Online Learning Doesn’t have to be Distant  

Tami Regan, our Business Director, completed both the Mental Health First Aid Training and Heartsaver Training courses. She shares that, “Supporting the health of our employees and students is foundational to sustainability and success. The Mental Health First Aid training drove home the importance of noticing mental health concerns and gave guidance on providing the right support at the right time. People matter; their mental health matters.”

We are releasing this story in September, which is national suicide prevention month. The campaign has gained traction since July 2022 when 988 became the federally mandated crisis number, available to all landline and cell phone users at no charge. 988 is a way to connect. Connection is the key to wellness and it is a topic we talk about frequently as a global and blended school system. 

Care work is ongoing. Earlier this month our team partnered with one of our schools in Brazil to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and wellbeing. This included a walk for mental health with locations in both Macae, RJ, and on our Mizzou Campus.  Please see the photo of our Mizzou walking team above.

Dr. Kathryn Fishman-Weaver says that “for us, online learning isn’t distant. While much of our instruction is mediated by technology, we know that we live and care for one another in the context of our communities.” In meetings, she often reminds the team that “at Mizzou Academy we know the world is small and deeply connected.” Training courses like these empower our faculty and staff with the skills to keep showing up for each other.