 I'd like to welcome everybody to Ignite the Spark. Ignite the Spark is a term that I use on a regular basis. My name is Sharpe Hacknack and I am the CEO, the director, the founder of a program called Horizons for Girls. We mentor middle school and high school girls and these are girls that typically might be referred to at risk. Something that my students came up with many years ago was they said, well we're not at risk, we're at promise and I thought that's exciting. They're in that positive thinking. I'm excited today about my guests. I've talked with Carla many times before and we've known each other like forever. But we won't say how long because that'll tell everybody how old we are, we don't want to do that. But Carla, say a little bit more about what your position is at the school district. Oh goodness, I am a school social worker with the Sheboygan area school district. I currently am assigned to South High School, Central High School, and I do some consultation and attendance work with Warner Middle and High School. The role of a school social worker is a really hard thing to pare down to this, this and this. We do a whole lot of everything and at the end of the day I always say our work is all geared towards removing any kind of barriers that exist in a child's life to allow them to fully experience their education, to fully embrace their role as a student and to find success in their schooling and during their school years. And of course it doesn't stop there, right? Like a diploma is not the end of the road, it's also moving them into young adulthood and towards independence. And anything that can fall under that role, be it helping families meet their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, I do a lot of work on attendance with students who miss a lot of school for various reasons. I do a lot of work with mental health and supporting our students who battle mental illness and are facing those unique and often overwhelming challenges and how that impacts their education and their time in school. Yeah, a whole lot of everything. It sounds like you've got plenty of things on your plate to try and take care of. My plate is heaping and I'm okay with that. It definitely keeps it interesting as a challenge every day but I can certainly relate to that. One of the things I wanted to talk to you about today is something that I'm excited about. It's something, you know, as we talked about right before we started, was it was your idea many years ago that access to that mental health component was just not there. And there's a lot of obstacles. Now the acronym is PATH. P-A-T-H, providing access to healing. I like that, I really do. So what does that mean? If we roll back the calendar, we have known for many years in the school district that the prevalence of mental health challenges, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, just your mood disorders, conduct disorders, our spectrum disorders, mental health has been a growing struggle for our young people. And what we've discovered and what we've known is that there are oftentimes barriers for those students to access the mental health treatment that they need out in the community. We are lucky in Sheboygan. We do have an abundance of mental health clinics where treatment and support for depression, anxiety, and all those related conditions can be found. The problem often isn't, okay, I'm going to go see this person at this clinic. It's, okay, but there's a waiting list for treatment at this clinic, and they don't take this kind of insurance that you have. And oh, by the way, we don't have a vehicle. And oh, by the way, I work second shift so I don't know how I can get my child who's at school during the day to an appointment second shift. And oh, by the way, I have four children and I'm doing my very best to care for all of them as a single parent, but I really don't have the time to get my child to therapy. And oh, by the way, you know, that we have a financial burden and I can't afford the co-pays for the mental health. There's just an abundance of reasons why our students have been unable to access the treatment that they need in the community. And started having conversations about it many years ago after I went to a school-based mental health conference and realized that other schools in our state and indeed in our nation were starting to bring mental health treatment specialists, counselors, therapists into the schools to provide that very much needed therapy during the school day so that the student can get what they need at a time that is really convenient for them. So the dialogue started years ago and it kind of ran into some roadblocks. But three years ago now, United Way, the wonderful director of United Way, came to the Sheboygan area school district and said, hey, I've heard about this. Let's partner. Let's make this happen. And it's through that partnership with Tom at United Way, the school district and Mental Health America that PATH came to be born and has now been our little baby that we've been nurturing to the point where it's really expanding this year and we got a wonderful $150,000 mental health grant from DPI to really expand it. So can you tell I'm excited about it? Yes, yes. I know. Because at first I think you were offering at what, in high school and middle school, now you've expanded to even grade school? Absolutely. Three years ago, we started dipping our toes into the PATH waters by offering it only at Atude, at the Atude Middle and High School. So really small charter school. Let's see how this works. Let's see how the students respond. And it was fantastic. It was incredibly successful. The data showed not only mental health growth and wellness growth, that the students were self-reporting, but parents were reporting, improved behavioral and emotional functioning in the home. Grades were going up. Attendance was improving. So the idea was, we need to expand this. So last year, we took the leap of faith and brought PATH to all the middle and high schools in the Sheboygan area school district. And again, saw this same exact success rate. Our academic and attendance data was not quite as positive in those schools, but again, students' incredible reports of improved mental health, improved overall wellness, improved social-emotional functioning, parents reporting amazing changes. And that's when we applied for the grant. And this year it's going to be in all elementary, middle and high schools, with the exception of a couple unique charter schools, but elementary, middle and high schools in the Sheboygan area school district. And we are so excited. It's an amazing, amazing piece to our overall pupil service model. Yeah. I mean, to me, when I look at the students that we work with at Horizons, that's a piece that is so needed for those students because they're struggling with those many issues that they're being bombarded with. And who do they talk to and how do they get to that professional so that they can have that conversation? I have a lot of parents when I call them to tell them about the program and to see if they are eligible and if it's something they'd be interested in. You want to come up, Faith? Come on, sweetie. Come here, honey. Let me back up. All right. There we go. All right. She says, let's talk about it. Yeah, let's talk about it. So the parents don't always understand, well, isn't that the school counselor? Isn't that what the school counselor does? And our school counselors are some of the most amazing, kind, supportive, people I've ever met. But their role isn't mental health treatment. It's very different. Their role is social and emotional learning and education around all of the pieces that contribute to wellness and to great social skills and supporting students and maybe helping them find resources. They're not mental health therapists. There's a very clear delineation there. So when I talk to parents, it's helping them understand we're not talking about like the supportive or educational piece that school counselors do. We're talking about mental health treatment that you would normally receive out in the community at a mental health clinic. But it's going to be right here, right during the child's school. Part of their schedule, part of their normal routine. And because it's at school, they're going to have access to it at least once a week, every week, as long as it's needed to get them to where they'd like to be. Well, and I think if I recall correctly, WTMJ even did a news bit on what was happening. Yeah, they came into South High last week, Monday. And I had one of an amazing young lady who is a student at South who really has reached the benefits of being able to tap that mental health treatment right during her school day as part of her schedule. Like it's nothing out of the ordinary. And she has really made some wonderful, wonderful gains in her life. And it's just reporting that her contact with Frank, who's our counselor at South, our path counselor, has changed her life. So she came in, her mom came in, and a wonderful reporter from TMJ interviewed them and interviewed Frank. And that was aired Tuesday night on Channel 4. Again, we're hoping that by getting the word out that we can move this beyond Sheboygan County. And by the way, this isn't just the Sheboygan area school district. Almost all of the Sheboygan County schools also have path now to varying degrees. So it's a whole county-wide program. But we want other school districts to recognize this can be done and it is being done. And I know Fox Cities have been doing it for many years. And we kind of modeled our programming under some of the things that they've done. But we wanted to have other communities understand you can do this and do it successfully. Well, I think in the, historically, maybe there was some stigma about if I had to go to a therapist after school, there might be something even wrong with me if I needed that service. But putting it right into school day, it's normal. It's okay. There's nothing to be ashamed of with what's being out there for you to use. And that to me is exciting. Our students in all of our schools, elementary to high school, are being pulled out of class and going to different places for all different reasons. Some of them have speech therapy in elementary schools. They're going to see their speech therapist. Some of them have occupational therapy and they're going to work on small motor skills and other motor skills. Some of them have physical therapy. They're being pulled out and going to see other people for all different reasons. It's a normal thing in school. So you're right. Going to see Frank or going to see Sarah or going to see their path counselor is just now part of what lots of the kids in school are doing. I think that to me that's amazing. Absolutely amazing. I want to make sure that I express thanks to you too for a project that we've kicked off this year where we are doing... The girls came up with this. I had seen something, I think, on the internet somewhere about acts of kindness, random acts of kindness. And so I challenged them and I said, do you think we can do 100 acts of kindness in 50 weeks? And they said, no, we can do that. And we brainstormed and they came up with... I've got pages and pages of different ideas of what they can do. Well, what they decided to do last week is they kicked it off and they actually came to South High School thanks to your help and coordination and they went around South High School after school one day and put little post-it notes with positive messages on lockers and they loved it. It made them feel good and the feedback I got on social media and from you and from other students was, hey, I like this, this was good. It just made them feel good. Well, you start out your day at home and you go through your morning routine and for a lot of our students sometimes those mornings can be tough and things happen at home and things don't go the way they were hoping and they walk into school already in kind of a tough place emotionally and then to walk up to your locker and see just a little post-it note that says, you are loved or you got this or the sunshine came up today especially for you. It's a little thing that can make a big difference if a student comes to us and is in a rough place to start the day or even as the day goes by, didn't do well on a test or got into it with a friend or just to be able to go back to their locker and just keep seeing those positive affirmations was a really nice thing. So thank you and your girls so much for bringing that little slice of joy to South High the other day. It was fun, it really was. I was telling you that what they're going to be doing one of the things they're going to do this week is today they're going to spend some time at the beach and they're going to do some cleanup because they thought before winter let's do some cleanup. I think we've all seen those videos of what our garbage in the water is doing to the animals and everybody's concerned and I said okay before winter gets here let's grab some garbage bags and let's just do a quick beach cleanup so that's one of the things they're going to do today. Again, simple thing but they're going to feel so good when they've got three big garbage bags full look out and see that beach looking nice and white and clean and it's good stuff. One of the other brainstorms they came up with that we're working on right now is we're going to try and find two elementary schools. I don't want to do this citywide or anything. We're starting small, two schools and we're going to have a couple of students in one of our certified mentors and they're going to chaperone trick-or-treating from the school out into the neighborhoods surrounding the school probably for an hour and a half and the girls just thought that's so cool because as you and I talked about those kids that maybe the families can't go or they're just not allowed to go out here's an opportunity where the kids will be able to meet at the school we're going to give them a tote bag and then we're going to chaperone them out for an hour and a half going trick-or-treating around their neighborhood so the girls felt good about that and again it was their brainstorm not mine. And again I think everything we're talking about today is tied back to that barriers to access even simple things like trick-or-treating there are times when for various reasons families can't do trick-or-treating and if you're a child growing up in our culture trick-or-treating it can be a real thing and if I can't do it and all my friends are going out and dressing up and the fact that your girls and your mentors are willing to take some of those kids and give them that experience just good stuff good stuff. Yeah and I think it expands the mental health of the students that are doing it I think of one young lady in particular that graduated a couple years ago now but for a long time didn't know what she wanted to do and what she seemed to enjoy was the trips that we would do to nursing homes to do different things whether it was passing out cookies doing crafts with the senior citizens whatever that might have been and she started to say hey I kind of like this this is kind of neat and she decided she wanted to get into nursing and from that she was even though she had some history of some obstacles the judge worked with her she was able to overcome those obstacles she is actually now in her first year of college and she's going to be a nurse and she's excited and all of that coming from being involved in acts of kindness and being able to discover something that she was interested in that ignites the spark exactly exactly that's what it's all about I mean yeah we could all have a job that we absolutely hated but guess what of all the things I've ever done this is probably I know it is it's not probably it is one of the things I enjoy the most because when I'm able to work with a young lady like that and discover what that is that they think they want to do and help them find that path to getting to where they want to be that to me is absolutely amazing it's just wow and it's you know I've had people get into law now they're studying law I've had people decide they wanted to be a chef I've had discussions with young ladies I'm thinking of one that's talked about well I want to study business well what kind of business okay let's take a little deeper in what is that business and you know trying to help them find that fire inside of them because yeah I could be doing one of the things that I applied for and actually got hired for it which was doing insurance work and what back then was heritage insurance well I'm glad I didn't take that job I went into another way and that that means the best thing you can do is how many years have you been doing it for horizons for horizons we're in our eighth year now that's fantastic it's I love it absolutely love it when you know when I have students come back to me now and say how can I help I want to talk to other students and tell them about my experience and how important horizons was and how it helped me that to me is really cool now because again when you're working with a young lady and at first you're going this is going nowhere and all of a sudden years later you can see that young lady come back and say thank you I'm glad that that really did help now how do I help give back that to me is exciting and that's really long term what path is about as well let's get these young people the treatment that they need now the understanding the guidance the knowledge about their illness and the tools that they need to overcome that live with it cope with it move to a different place with it and then maybe this whole path to adulthood and all that exploring can happen because you don't have those burdens of depression anxiety and those other symptoms that get in the way of maybe finding their spark right it's and it's fun to watch the young people help each other you know we've got one young lady that is autistic and when I see other students stand up for her and it's interesting if I've got a new student starting group and at first they're looking at the autistic student as some strange something over here somebody that's been in the group for a while will step up and say hey now she's cool and she's smart and just let her talk for a minute that to me is cool because they stand up for each other and that really makes a difference and that's society I mean we've got to care about each other especially about ourselves society will fall apart so how do we fix the world I'm not sure I think we're on the right path I think programs like horizons for girls initiatives like path that are defining what it is that's getting in the way of kids doing well and trying to give them access to the pieces that they need to fulfill that journey and get to adult life and well-being we're on the right path we just need a whole lot more of us and a whole lot more cities it was interesting this week I saw a video about a cane that was developed for people that are blind that uses GPS to help the blind person get to their destination and so I started talking about that with students and they started coming up with ideas about how it could maybe even be improved and I thought excellent excellent I like to see that happening it's higher order thinking it's not just the problem right here it's where do we go a few years ago I remember going out to Sheboyk and Falls and talking with students and the teacher there had some really unique ways of working with the students it might have been social studies where they identified a problem that they saw in society whatever it might be and then how would you fix that okay here's but how do you take that solution down to a local level and what is your action and what is your plan and it was really interesting to work with that group of students and really see them say okay world hunger is the problem here's what we should be doing and now if I bring that down to a local level what can they do locally and that was exciting to watch those kids work through that process because you know rather and I've always been of that thinking so just sitting in the back of the room and saying well that'll never work or that is stupid instead come up with a solution help to be a part of how to make it better I think that's what we really need to do with kids is help them be a part of the solution so we should just fix all of this sure so what else is coming up at school oh my goodness what is coming up at school well as I said the path program is expanding to the elementary schools we were able with that grant to also add some additional days to the middle and high school so we have more slots for students so that's exciting the high school it's homecoming season and you've got football games coming up and homecoming dances and all of the traditions and experiences that come with homecoming week which again is overwhelming at times for some of the young people that we work with and there are pieces to that that can be challenging so we support them in understanding all of those pieces I want to go to homecoming but I don't have a dress well guess what there are agencies in town run away in youth services that provides homecoming prom dresses and so it's always you never know what you're going to get in my work every day is something different we can just kind of take it as it comes and do our very best to support our students and move them to that next place in life well and coming up at holiday time don't you do certain things with some holiday boxes of food or something every school kind of has their own service type of work the school social workers in the school district are lucky that we're able to work with one of the local churches so as we're meeting with families and getting to know them and a lot of families that we already do know and we know that the holidays provide a real hardship for providing what's expected unfortunately so we have a program with the church where we can refer them for some Christmas support there's another local service agency that does do Thanksgiving boxes and other church often times it's kind of corralling all of those different programs and then finding the families that have the most need and will appreciate and enjoy those service pieces excellent excellent thank you very much for coming in today I love I could talk with you like forever about these how long is the show but again certainly if people have some ideas about how they might want to help or a question how could they get a hold of you you can get a hold of me at 920-803-7903 that's my work phone number or email the letter C that's V-O-R-P-A-H-L at s-a-s-d dot net happy to help you out in any way I can excellent excellent thank you very much for being a part of this certainly any questions about horizons for girls visit us on the website at horizonsforgirls.com certainly all of our contact information is there if you want to do a referral to the program those referrals can come from anywhere or maybe you're thinking you might want to be a mentor or help with the program connect with us be a part of the solution just don't sit back and say there's a problem let's look at how we can fix that problem and let's come up with a solution thank you very much for joining us on ignite the spark