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Eagle Update

My name is Mimi Chough, LAMFT, and I serve on the school district advisory committee and on the mental health support team. I started my position with the school district in August, spending time meeting with people and learning about school and community programs. I am working with the schools, community agencies and local mental health providers to bring mental health resources to families and students in need. Sounds good, but it gets even better.

The first part of the work that I have been doing is learning, meeting people, finding out what they do and how they have been addressing the student’s needs already. Wow! Just wow! The New Ulm School District cares about these kids and has some amazing programs in place with dedicated and talented teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals, and administrators that are not afraid to dig in and get things done for the kids. In addition to what they are already doing every day, these educators have welcomed me with my 1000 questions and have shown interest in the whole well-being of the families in the community. The New Ulm School District is reaching out for more and partnering with all community resources to expand and improve on what we can offer our students.

Mental health in children and adolescents has been declared an “unprecedented mental health crisis” and the federal and state governments are supporting additional funding, programming, and education in an effort to address the needs. The school district has a mental health support team already meeting to get ahead of the curve, and to continue the programs that are already helping our students. The team is looking for additional programming to support our district staff and the students we serve to address mental health districtwide. Let me assure you that the spirit of New Ulm is working in this district. The time and talents of many are addressing mental health proactively and engaging in community partnerships that will make a difference in the lives of our children. I encourage you to watch for opportunities to help support this effort and to be a part of the conversation because community matters and the New Ulm School District is a community which is important in the lives of these children.

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