First in nation partnership aims to improve mental health in the classroom

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -  A news conference took place at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at the Bush Memorial Hall at Russell Sage College. The school announced it is the first college in the nation to partner with the Center for Positive Education. This infinitive includes all of the teacher education students and school counseling students to be trained in Positive Education before they graduate.

The President of Russell Sage College, Matthew Shaftel, Kelly Smith, an Assistant Professor at the School of Education, Clifford Bird, the principal from the Cohoes School District, Mary Yodis, the superintendent of the Wynantskill School District, and Emiliya Zhivotoskaya, the CEO of The Center for Positive Education all attended and spoke at the news conference.

According to those involved in the project, Positive Education is about building resilience in kids, leaning into their strengths, and helping them develop a sense of belonging through a social-emotional approach to learning. It's not a curriculum or a program; it's teaching educators a mindset that influences everything they do built on the principles of Positive Psychology.

Yodis said the new partnership between The Center for Positive Learning and Russell Sage will give local teachers and students a much needed life line.

 "Post COVID students came back, and we saw much more aggression behaviors," Yodis said. "We've seen an increase in anxiety. We seen an increase in depression. We have hired a social worker. This is year three of a social worker. We have full-time school counselors, we have a full-time psychologist, and it still never feels like enough. It feels like they are just burning out themselves.”

The same mental health struggles teachers and students face described by Yodis are also impacting students nationwide.

"In a national survey, nearly half of student leaders are concerned for their students, mental health and also that of their teachers," Shaftel said. "So we are building an entire new mindset here at Russell Sage College that connects the entire curriculum through positive psychology to the coping skills that students need in order to deal with worry so they can do what they need to in the classroom.”