ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Rock Hill Schools’ parents looking for mental health tips can continue to rely this school year on the live-stream Parent Academy and the participation of Winthrop University professors and students.
The award-winning sessions have helped parents navigate a host of issues over the past three years.
Nancy Turner, director of behavioral and mental health services with Rock Hill Schools, said the Zoom sessions, which were started in 2020, offered awareness, education and enlightenment during the COVID-19 pandemic and have continued to address issues that interest parents. Typically held for an hour on Thursday nights, the sessions would begin with Turner serving as the facilitator and she would introduce speakers, including some of whom were Winthrop professors and students.
Parents tuned in to hear topics ranging from mental health awareness, oral health and hygiene, to the hardships of saying goodbye as students advanced to a different school.
Faculty member Sarah Titman from the Department of Social Work proved to be a favorite, Turner said, based on viewership and e-mails/chat comments. Titman and others have presented on such topics as: “How to talk with your child about school safety drills” or “Family Space: A series on Self-Care for children of every age.”
Others presenting from Winthrop included faculty member Monique Constance-Huggins on poverty and various graduate and undergraduate social work students. Graduate social work students who presented were: Catherine Payne, Taylor Montgomery, Camille Jones and Katie McSloy. Titman praised graduate student Katie McSloy for her work as the lead intern for a year and a half in creating the background for the presentations and who co-presented with Titman most often.
Undergraduate students were: Janie Fortner, Daisy Castro, Maranda McKenzie, Franchesca Ross, Ella Hall, Rowan Buscemi, Madison Atzienza, Will Evers, Lilyann Kanipe and Jackie Carson.
Also, graduate student Melissa Carlyle helped with a Homeless to Housed session offered with the city of Rock Hill’s Economic and Urban Development Department.
There are more than 150 sessions archived on the school district’s website, Turner said, and can be accessed through the RHSD Facebook page or YouTube channel. The school district has received positive accolades for their efforts after winning a Golden Achievement Award in 2021 from the S.C. chapter of the National School Public Relations Association.
Turner said she has deeply appreciated the Winthrop partnership for the last three years. Titman, as the supervisor of many social work interns, offered support for initiatives such as the CARES Connection, Mental Health Hotline and provided presentations to staff and administration on grief and loss during the hard years of the pandemic.
Titman spent a decade of her social work career working exclusively with hospice as a licensed medical social worker, with the latter half on her career focusing on bereavement services. She has always been passionate about grief and loss, and professional self-care work in community agencies, and has been engaged in increased work around these topics since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the new school year ahead, Turner said the live-stream Zoom sessions for Parent Academy will continue. The weekly sessions will be offered on a new Parent Academy Facebook page located at https://www.facebook.com/rhsparentacademy. This Facebook page will continue to bring weekly Parent Academy videos, but will expand to provide more mental health resources.
For more information, contact Turner at NTurner@rhmail.org.
