Event: What our schools need next to support student mental health

Join Chalkbeat on June 8, 5-6:15 p.m. ET for the final event in our series on COVID and mental health.

An event promotional image with the title “COVID and mental Health: What our schools need next” against a peach gradient background.
Chalkbeat and College Track present students in dialogue with author and influencer, Blair Imani, followed by a mental health expert panel. (Illustration by Lauren Bryant / Chalkbeat)

This event was originally scheduled for June 1, and has been postponed to June 8.

Mental health is a topic that has threaded throughout Chalkbeat’s journalism with particular intensity since COVID started.

In response to this national need for more discussion around mental health, Chalkbeat and College Track will host student panelists from across the country in conversation with Blair Imani to share their experiences with mental health and wellness over the last two years, how they have felt during the pandemic, and what they need next.

Following the students, Chalkbeat managing editor Sarah Darville will moderate a panel of mental health experts to discuss how COVID has exacerbated many issues that existed in schools around mental health, and the solutions to address the effects of the added stress students and educators have endured over the last two years.

Join Chalkbeat and College Track for this important discussion with students and mental health experts. Please RSVP for this premiere so we’re able to provide streaming information. This event is free to attend, but any optional donations will go to support Chalkbeat’s nonprofit journalism and events like these.

This event is the final in a four-part national Chalkbeat series titled COVID and Mental Health, which seeks to amplify efforts to better support the wellness of students and school staff during this challenging comeback year.

The Latest

Federal investigation targets Chicago schools’ long-awaited Black Student Success Plan. State law mandated the Chicago Board of Education create a plan to “bring parity between Black children and their peers.”

Colorado ranks third in the nation, after Washington, D.C. and Vermont, for the share of 4-year-olds served in its state-funded preschool program.

Backers of a proposed religious charter school argue that charter schools are more private than public. The Supreme Court case could upend the charter sector, with implications for funding, autonomy and more.

The Illinois legislative session is scheduled to end on May 31. Lawmakers are considering several education bills and negotiating the fiscal year 2024 budget. Here is what Chalkbeat is following.

Advocates warn that transferring federal special education oversight to another department could weaken enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other disability rights laws, while jeopardizing funding, research, and implementation.

Some districts invested pandemic relief money in instructional coaches and increased time spent on math. Test scores suggest that strategy’s paying off.