ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Southwestern Heights Junior High School and Cottonwood Elementary School were among 107 schools across the Sunflower State to recently receive Healthy Habits for Life grants from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas Foundation.
The grants assist in implementing programs that promote healthy lifestyle choices for K-12 students. The BCBSKS Foundation looks for programs that will help Kansas youth reduce cardiovascular risk, increase physical activity, learn healthy eating habits and reinforce positive mental health.
This year, 57 percent of the grants are being used to support students’ mental health. SWHJH’s grant was not used for mental health, but USD 483 Nurse Norma Sanchez did say the money was used to purchase two outdoor basketball goals and a pickleball set for Heights students.
“That’s because we’re out here in the middle of nowhere, and we don’t have a playground area,” she said. “There’s not much to go outside and do. There’s not much recreation outdoors other than your track field, football field, but our sixth graders go outside every day when it’s nice after lunch, and there’s not really anything for them to play with. I’ve decided I want things kids can actually use to play with, so I asked Healthy Habits for Life for a couple of basketball goals.”
In addition to the goals and pickleball set, Sanchez was given an additional $1,350 in funding for food to make healthy recipes.
“We do different things every month to show students you can eat healthy snacks,” she said. “They usually put together a parfait or trail mix or granola. Sometimes, we use it to flavor enhance water so they drink more water. It’s all about healthy habits, healthy things they can do and put together. It sounds like a lot of money, but food’s expensive. When you’re talking about 130 students, you go through that money pretty quickly.”
Though USD 483’s grant money does not focus on mental health, Sanchez said part of the district’s curriculum does center on students’ welfare through the Ignite program, which is funded through a different grant.
“Throughout the years, it’s expanded from physical and nutritional health,” she said. “We’ve added social and emotional health to that too. We definitely have incorporated different ways to support mental health for our students. Last year, we had a mental health awareness month and did several activities for that. This particular grant isn’t used for anything mental health related other than being outside and getting the blood pumping, getting some exercise. That’s always good for mental health as well, but it is not directly linked to that.”
Altogether, SWHJH received $2,000 from the BCBSKS grant. Sanchez said getting the funding was awesome.
“Healthy Habits for Life has been really good to me,” she said. “For the past several years, they’ve awarded our district different grants for several things.”
Sanchez said Healthy Habits for Life has been a large supporter of the Ignite program as well.
“They’ve been a primary financial resource for us to get to do what we do with students on a health level,” she said. “We all know if students aren’t healthy, they’re not going to learn. We’ve always known that. It’s important to have good school health so they can be at school and learn and have good attendance. It always feels good when we get awarded that.”
While nurses are more known for their work with physical health, Sanchez estimated about 50 percent of her job focuses on mental health.
“We always have the typical injuries and accidents and boo boos,” she said. “Students with those types of sicknesses, illnesses or injuries, we handle them. They’re an in and out type of thing. They come in, we deal with it, and they’re back out.”
Sanchez said the mental health aspect of her job is not as easy.
“It’s not an in-and-out type of thing,” she said. “It takes much more time to deal with mental health stuff. When a student comes in, it’s not an in and out, here’s some Tylenol type of situation. It takes a lot more time. As far as time goes, how much time goes into it, it’s about 50 percent of my job. The other 50 is illnesses, screenings and injuries.”
Regardless, Sanchez said mental health is a huge part of her job, and her goal is to make sure students are the healthiest they can be whether that is through mental or physical health.
“If they’re having mental health issues, they’re not learning either,” she said. “They’re not going to learn if they’ve got major stuff going on that is keeping them from truly learning and truly focusing and truly being able to dedicate their efforts into school.”
Sanchez said the mental health side of nursing is hard for people to see.
“It’s one of those things that’s part of the job people never see,” she said. “They don’t see how you deal with mental health. They don’t see how you deal with that stuff because one, we respect our students’ privacy, but also, it’s a delicate thing. Every person is different. Every person is individualized.”
Therefore, Sanchez said the district’s goal is to make sure students are the best they can be so they can be at school and learn.
“Whether it’s physical or mental, if that’s not right, you’re not able to be here,” she said. “I’ve been here 14 years, and I feel every year I’ve been here, our mental health concerns are bigger and more widespread every year.”
As with many school districts, Sanchez said there is a huge need for mental health help at USD 483.
“We have a new social emotional counselor who’s here at our school they’ve hired because it was such a big need,” she said. “She’s here, and she’s busy. Her door is constantly busy with kids with social emotional issues and concerns.”
Likewise, Sanchez said district officials reach out to local resources frequently for professional help in making sure students get in touch with the right people for whatever that may be, whether it is therapy services, social services or actual medication services.
“We make sure our families have those resources if needed, and we take that information into the school,” she said. “We continue it in school so there’s a consistency in care between home and school.”
Sanchez said mental health needs to be a priority for districts such as USD 483.
“It used to be such a stigma,” she said. “People wouldn’t talk about it, or people would say, ‘Come on get tough. When we were growing up, we didn’t have these issues.’ We’re not in that same era.”
Sanchez said with today’s students facing much influence from phones, social media, peers and families, it almost feels as though they are outnumbered.
“It’s hugely important kids are actively involved in as much as they can in school,” she said. “That helps mental health, but for those who aren’t directly involved in athletics or organizations that help with mental health, it’s important we target those kids who are left out, who are in the gap. It’s important we do things to ensure their mental health is good too. We try to incorporate things in our district for those as well.”
Sanchez said nutrition and rest are a part of that equation, especially when it comes to making sure students know there are things other than sports that affect mental health.
“That’s getting plenty of rest,” she said. “That means getting off the video games and making sure you’re to bed at a good time, making sure you’re eating right and making sure you’re getting a variety of food, not just a quick on the go bag of chips. We do a lot to educate and involve students in things that are healthy for them physically and mentally.”
