Category: Mental Health/Wellness

Laura Tobias and Danielle Ambrosia

Three Ways to Prevent Bullying Year-Round 

October is Bullying Prevention and Awareness Month. While it is important to explicitly acknowledge this month in our schools, school leaders also have a responsibility to support students and staff all year to create a safe and positive learning environment. At State College Area High School in State College, PA, here are three ways we […]

Three Ways to Build Connection, Culture, and Community This School Year 

For principals, experiencing challenging years is inevitable. Putting our best foot forward right out of the starting gate is essential to setting us on a positive path to building a strong, connected school community. Conflicts with student schedules, staff morale issues, and parental concerns about academic pressure and mental health status are among the few […]

Uniting Through NASSP to Bring Joy to Education

In an inspiring display of collaboration and innovation, three school leaders who met as strangers in the NASSP Ambassador program joined forces to address a critical need in education: bringing joy back to schools. Meeting in person for the first time minutes before their session at UNITED: The National Conference on School Leadership, they led […]

Mary Bigenho

This Pride Month Holding Space for Us All

Walking the dirt street to reach my house, I hear a homophobic slur emanate from the car driving past me. A meek 12-year-old, I rush on in fear—fear of what they would do if they knew how right they were. “How do they know?” I ask myself. “Am I too masculine? Too feminine?” My identity […]

Tiffany L. Rehbein, EdD

Celebrating Leadership and an Authentic Life This Pride Month

I have fallen in love with comic books. With the ability of creators to tell complete stories using text and art, color and space. And, of course, with the superhero. The character that is always brave or strong, selfless and courageous, adaptable, driven, inquisitive. The appeal of the superhero is understandable. The motivations, the skill […]

Daniel J. Miani, EdD

Promoting Student Voice Through Thrive Thursday

Every year before school begins at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, VA, we review our school improvement plan, including elements like on-time graduation rate, numeracy and literacy scores, and chronic absenteeism. As with many schools, since the pandemic, our chronic absenteeism rate has steadily increased, and we are also combatting a significant increase […]

Why I’m Part of the Student Leadership Network on Mental Health

Throughout my time in high school, I have learned that mental health is not a goal, object, or buzzword but rather an active practice. Taking care of your mental well-being requires self-awareness, patience, and reflection. It may sound daunting, but there are plenty of tools that can help.