Wellness Together's 8th Annual Student Mental Wellness Conference: Full Schedule

4:00pm PDT

Fostering Belonging: The Heart of Thriving Community School

Wednesday October 9, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm PDT

Discover how to create inclusive and supportive environments in community schools that promote a sense of belonging for all students. Attendees will reflect on their current strategies and learn to enhance their practices to foster belonging, build strong relationships, and engage families and communities. By integrating the principles of the community schools framework, participants will explore research-based approaches to create nurturing spaces that support students' academic, social, and emotional well-being. This presentation will provide practical tools and strategies to transform schools into vibrant community hubs where every student feels valued and connected.

Speakers

Christian Quintero

Coordinator, Community Schools, Orange COunty Department of Education

Stephanie Fernandez

Coordinator, Community Schools, Orange County Department of Education

Wednesday October 9, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm PDT
213A

School & District-Wide Leadership

8:30am PDT

Sponsored Breakout: Growing Community: Increasing Connectedness for Oakland USD's McKinney Vento, Foster, and Newcomer Youth

Thursday October 10, 2024 8:30am - 9:30am PDT

213A

Oakland USD is a pioneer of community schools and empowering student voices. The district displayed this in its Equitable Design program to increase school connectedness among MKV, Foster, and Newcomer youth, as measured by school attendance, self reported SEL wellbeing, and academic identity. Join us to learn how this relationship-centered approach lifted up student ideas for increasing engagement and allowed the district to understand the root causes of absenteeism.

Speakers

Zaia Vera

Consultant, Sown To Grow

Thursday October 10, 2024 8:30am - 9:30am PDT
213A

School & District-Wide Leadership

12:30pm PDT

How Play Can Save the Day

Thursday October 10, 2024 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT

213A

With the ultimate goal of consistently improving and promoting positive mental health, Playworks provides safe and healthy play practices, easily be implemented at your sites, that ultimately makes for a positive and inclusive healthy school community/environment.

Participants will learn how to:
- Teach leadership skills by creating a safe and welcoming play space that allows all kids to get into the game
- Embrace clear rules and conflict resolution tools that move students past the awkward and sometimes intimidating feeling of exclusion and chaos during recess that makes transitioning back into the classroom challenging

Speakers

Calvin Hamilton

Regional Partnership Director, Playworks

Bertina Denogean

Thursday October 10, 2024 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT
213A

Student and Community Mental Health

3:30pm PDT

Sponsored Breakout: Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program: Lessons Learned and Strengthening Partnerships between Education and Health Plans to Support School Health

Thursday October 10, 2024 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT

213A

The Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program (SBHIP) has created a unique opportunity for education partners and health plans to collaborate and meaningfully support the behavioral health needs of students across California. Featuring Anthem Blue Cross and Kern County Superintendent of Schools, this presentation focuses on SBHIP’s impacts, challenges, successes, lessons learned, and opportunities. It highlights students and staff in Kern County but represents a shared experience among SBHIP education partners.

Speakers

Dieumi Nguyen

Program Director of CYBHI, Anthem Blue Cross

As Anthem Blue Cross’s Program Director of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), Dieumi Nguyen oversees the Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program (SBHIP) and the Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule implementation. In her work, she partners closely with... Read More →

Lourdes Bucher

Thursday October 10, 2024 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
213A

School & District-Wide Leadership

10:15am PDT

Let Hope Lead with Solution Focused Conversation Skills

Friday October 11, 2024 10:15am - 11:15am PDT

213A

We can inspire change and collaboration by using a solution-focused approach so that people move from problem to solution quickly. Discover how and why hope-centered conversation strategies empower people to want to make necessary changes.

In this workshop, you will:
Learn how to prepare for challenging conversations using solution-focused mindset habits.

Engage in interactive exercises to practice three-step solution-focused communication, empowering you to inspire action in others.

Acquire skills to infuse hope into any conversation, inspired by the strategies from the 2023 TEDx talk: How to Lead with Hope.

Speakers

Cher Kretz

School Counselor and Speaker, Corona Norco Unified School District

Friday October 11, 2024 10:15am - 11:15am PDT
213A

School & District-Wide Leadership

1:45pm PDT

Increasing Hope to Heal and Thrive

Friday October 11, 2024 1:45pm - 2:45pm PDT

213A

Hope is more than a feeling—it’s a strategy for resilience and success. In this dynamic breakout session, we'll explore practical techniques to cultivate hope in students and educators alike. Learn how building a foundation of hope can improve mental well-being, boost academic performance, and foster a positive school culture. Through hands-on activities and real-world examples, participants will leave equipped with actionable tools to inspire hope, motivate others, and create a future full of possibilities in their schools and communities. Let’s spark hope and watch it grow!

Speakers

Heather Miller

CEO and Founder, School Care Team

Heather Miller is the visionary founder and CEO of the School Care Team (SCT), a dynamic organization dedicated to supporting youth mental health and well-being through innovative, evidence-based programs. With a deep passion for empowering schools and communities, Heather has spearheaded... Read More →

Gina Courtois

SCT Hope Booklet Anaheim pdf

Friday October 11, 2024 1:45pm - 2:45pm PDT
213A

Student and Community Mental Health

3:00pm PDT

Five Building Blocks of Recovery to Mental Wellness

Friday October 11, 2024 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT

213A

The Five Pillars of Recovery to Mental Wellness provides people living with mental illness tools for greater mental wellness as well as hope and a roadmap for recovery. Participants will be able to:

Identify the support they need to stay mentally stable
Identify the different aspects of having a self-care plan
Trust the process of recovery
Go about finding community in their lives
Develop expanded self-awareness and follow their intuition

Speakers

Jared Bendifallah

Peer Support Group Facilitator, National Alliance on Mental Illness Westside Los Angeles (NAMI WLA)

Friday October 11, 2024 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
213A

Student and Community Mental Health

Wellness Together's 8th Annual Student Mental Wellness Conference