A year ago, we were wondering when the vaccine would be available and is it really safe to return to school? Today, those questions are still relevant! This hour, we talk about the mental health needs of students. What sort of support will children need from their schools? Sandra Chafouleas, a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology and co-director of the Collaboratory on School and Child Health at the University of Connecticut, is interviewed.

Sandra Chafouleas, a professor at UConn’s Neag School of Education and co-director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH), said that all schools need to make learning joyful and emphasize relationships, flexibility and a focus on the whole child. Most importantly, Chafouleas said, schools needed to invest in building teacher-student relationships. She said that just one teacher could make an enormous difference in the path of a child.

“As many schools in the U.S. figure out how to safely and fully resume in-person instruction, much of the focus is on vaccinations. But there’s another type of ‘vaccine’ that may be beneficial for some returning K-12 students that could be overlooked. Those are known as ‘behavioral vaccines.'”

Sandra Chafouleas, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Neag Endowed Professor of educational psychology and founder of the Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH), spoke with Julie Bartucca of the UConn 360 podcast about ways parents can support their children’s well-being during this time, as well as about how to talk to kids about the upheaval going on in the U.S.

Jesse Mala is an assistant visiting professor in the UConn Department of Educational Leadership sports management program. He studies how sport can be used to promote positive development among Black and Latinx youth in poverty. Mala himself grew up in poverty, in the housing projects in New Britain, Connecticut but still had access to some sports through the Police Athletic League in his neighborhood. There he learned crucial life skills and lessons that he feels contributed to his overall development and eventual academic success.

As a part of the Provost’s Distinguished Speaker Series, Professor Sandra M. Chafouleas gave a talk titled “Well-Being in School, Child, and Community: Advancing the Whole, Not the Sum of Its Parts” on Thursday afternoon. The Provost’s Distinguished Speaker Series is an annual series where distinguished professors are invited to discuss their research and scholarship with the greater community.

CSCH Program Manager Helene Marcy interviews CSCH Affiliate Jesse Mala about his research looking at the relationship between sport & physical activity and working memory and perceptions of school climate among youth living in poverty.

The Neag Foundation has provided the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health, co-directed by Neag School’s Sandra Chafouleas, with a two-year grant to facilitate work in the Think about the Link Project.

Representatives from Connecticut school systems, state agencies, higher education institutions, and nonprofit organizations gathered at the University on Wednesday, Oct. 23, to develop collaborative plans to broaden school and community mental health services across the state and address issues surrounding childhood trauma.