By Kristen Hernandez
Over the summer, Ignite the Culture Weekend presented a three-day series filled with a celebrity-studded charity basketball game, a flag football game with NFL players, and an open discussion panel to shine a bright light on the challenges children face during the school year, and the solutions.
Valerie Wanza Ph.D, the new Deputy Superintendent for Broward County Public Schools, believes that parents play a vital role in their child’s behavior and mental health status. She spoke at the mental health panel on July 20 at Blanche Ely High School’s gym and emphasized the collective effort required to de-stigmatize mental health from state officials, parents and voters.
“The state of Florida has a mental health grant that helped us to access a number of resources in the schools for students as it relates to therapists and counseling, but also some type of pre-screening so children can tell us up front how they feel, what they’re going through, and what specific support they need,” Wanza said. “We also have support for our employees because it’s important their well-being is checked on regularly, so they’re best equipped to provide for the students.”
Wanza said children are still being affected by trauma caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re concerned about how our students came back to us after Covid. Many students were at home, accessing all kinds of portals or websites, and involved in activities that gave them challenges that we had to address when they returned,” Wanza said. “We have plethora of resources that involve family counseling, individual counseling and opportunities for parents to get involved.”
Wanza said it was the power of the voters that made free access to mental health services possible in the school system. “The voters of this county also understood the need to invest in our children’s well-being. A part of the referendum that our voters passed, a portion of those funds go to implement activities and resources to address the mental health needs of our students. Students can reach out 24/7 online for help if they need access right away.”
Panel guest speaker and global thought leader Jibrial Muhamad, better-known as 19Keys, spoke directly to parents who discipline their children with a heavy hand.
“You can get a ton of respect from your kids without beating them,” 19Keys said. “Teach parents how to act in front of their children. Teach your kids how to treat others. Mental health issues stem from these attacks from parents on children. Cursing the kids out; stop doing this to your kids. Trauma in their life will spill over to them losing control. That trauma is real. Mental health issues are real.”
Entrepreneur Markita Heard of Empower Kits organized the Ignite the Culture weekend alongside Above .500. Empower Kits is a metaverse, or a one-stop virtual shop, for empowering students with free resources that tackle several key aspects of a child’s development. Music
artist, Wyclef, supported development of the Empower Kits, and makes an appearance within the metaverse.
“At the end of the year, our metaverse will be launched. Grab our notebook, scan the code, and students will have access to a sprawling educational destination that tackles mental health and wellness,” Heard said.
The Empower Kits will offer access to live therapists, mentors, personal development, education, arts, entrepreneurship, health and wellness, technology and financial literacy in one virtual place. The key to accessing the metaverse will be through specially designed QR codes embedded within school supplies. Kids can use their current gadgets like a phone or Oculus to access the metaverse.
In addition to the Mental Health and Wellness Portal on the Browardschools.com website, the school board is currently discussing the possibility of adding Heard’s Empower Kits to the school system as a free tool and resource for students. Ignite the Culture envisions a world where all minority students have access to free mental health resources by creating a positive social and environmental impact.
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