 Good evening. Welcome to Senator Sanders Town Hall with Vermont students. My name is Catherine Becker VanHaste, State Director for Senator Bernie Sanders. We're so glad to have you with us this evening to talk about what students have been experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic and how we can support their needs. We have just a few housekeeping reminders before we begin this evening. First, this event is really geared towards our students so that they can ask their questions of the senator. Therefore, we ask that we keep all questions to students to answer. If you're joining us this evening via WebEx, you can ask a question by clicking the raise hand button in the WebEx platform and then typing your question into the chat. From there, we will call on you to ask your question live. For folks on the phone, you can press star three to ask your question. And for anyone joining us via Senator Sanders YouTube channel, you can post your question in the comments. Please share your first name and your Vermont town and then type your question. So again, on the WebEx platform, raise your hand button and type your question in the chat. Folks on the phone press star three and folks on YouTube, please use the comment section. So with that out of the way, it is my very distinct pleasure to introduce your senator Bernie Sanders. Thank you very much. And let me thank all our student panelists who with us and thank everybody who is watching and everybody who has submitted questions. And let me thank some of our adult experts for being with us as well. I want all of the panelists to just relax. This is going to be an informal process. And what we want to do tonight is something pretty simple. This last year has been the worst year for our country and maybe the world in a very, very long time. And I don't have to tell you about that. You know, we have lost a half a million Americans died of the COVID disease. The economy has gone downhill big time, meaning many, many workers, some 10 million people in the country lost their jobs, go to any downtown in Vermont, and you're going to see small businesses that have been shut down. And you and the younger people of this country, millions of you, have seen your lives disrupted in a way that we have never seen before. You have not been able to go to school. You're worried about your educational futures. You've not been able to socialize with your friends. You're worried about your parents. You worried about, you know, financial resources of your families. It has been an incredibly disruptive year. And what we have seen all across this country is a rise in people who are dealing with stress and drug problems now and domestic violence and all kinds of things that have come about because of the isolation that people are feeling. It is a very unnatural situation not to be able to be with your friends and your family and so forth and so on. So what I wanted to do tonight are just a couple of things. I think it's important for us to know that everything that we are experiencing, we're not the only one who's experiencing it. A lot of people in Vermont are experiencing it, kids are experiencing it, older people. And it's important that we talk about it so that we can share the experiences. And the second thing that I need from you as your senator is your ideas about where we go from here. The good news and the several pieces of good news I think is that number one, as all of you know, vaccines have been developed. They are now being distributed widely throughout our state, throughout the country, more and more people are becoming vaccinated. We're looking at two or three million people every day. We're getting vaccinated. And that is the light at the end of the tunnel. The day will come sooner or later when people will be vaccinated and we can go back to a normal life. The economy may be doing a little bit better. Congress just passed a very, very large piece of legislation which is going to bring well over a billion dollars into the state of Vermont, including a lot of money for education, for summer programs, for healthcare, etc. So what I would like to do if you could when you talk is think about what would be helpful to you and your friends. What can the state do? What can your community do? What can we do here in Washington? So that's the point. The point is for us to kind of share our experiences to know that we're not alone. And also if you have any questions on anything, we've assembled a wonderful group of adults who are heavily involved in trying to deal with the pandemic. And let me just thank them and mention who they are. Kath Burns is a clinical director for Vermont's COVID support line. She has been doing a great job. Phyllis Carrero is a school counselor at Proctor Junior Senior High School. Holly Morehouse is the executive director of the Vermont afterschool and summer program. Jen Olson is a workplace learning counselor at Hazel Union. Karen Price is director of family support at the Vermont Family Network. And Heather Stein is a doctor with the community health centers in Burlington. So we've got a great group of young people. And let's get going. And we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Let's start with Aiva Armor Jones, who's a senior at Brattleboro Union High School. Aiva, thanks so much for being with us. Thank you for having me. So as you guys just heard, my name's Aiva. I'm from Brattleboro, Vermont. It's an honor to be with all of you this evening. So my brief statement is actually going to reflect a lot of what Senator Sanders was just talking about. And the issue I want to discuss the most or address the most tonight is the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of our states and our nation's youth. I know for myself this year's public health crisis has been detrimental at times to my mental well-being and the mental well-being of a lot of people I really love and care about. I find that a lot of this mental health issues that I, my peers have faced have been exacerbated, not just by the isolation uncertainty at this time, but by the continued rigor and pace of our education and lives with limited mental health resources. I kind of want to give a bit of a scenario to help paint the picture of what I think a lot of teenagers are going through right now. But throughout this year, my teachers and most of them have asked me and my fellow classmates to rate how stressed out we are on a scale of 1 to 10. And every single time without fail, the lowest rating in my classes has been an 8 out of 10, which is I think very indicative of where people are at right now. And I think the law of the world slowed down while our school works fed up. And I know right now, in addition to doing five plus hours of homework every night, I sit on Zoom for about six hours per day. And I feel like in some cases there's been a failure to acknowledge the mental suffering of our generation and how that has undeniably caused so many of us to feel overwhelmed and at times even hopeless. And I think that I know I'm not alone in that a lot of us feel like there isn't enough time in the day to sleep, do all your work, talk to your friends, be with your family, eat well, relax, exist outside of the amount of work you have to do. And I think because this is a reality for so many of us and we're trying to process the trauma we are living through while staying on top of the things that we have to complete to succeed once this is over, I think there's been a big disconnect between how we allow teens to continue to live their lives in a very different world. And I think that if there's one thing I want anyone here to take away from what I have to say tonight is that I think our youth is are facing hardships that we haven't seen on this mass scale in a really long time. And I think a lot of them are doing that, doing so without anywhere to turn. And I found that a lot of schools specifically have placed more focus on keeping kids reading levels or test scores up than making sure that the kids that they're worried so much about intellectually are actually doing well emotionally. So I kind of have to say that as we're reaching the end of or what appears to be the light at the end of this pandemic tunnel, I really urge everyone here watching panelists, anyone involved, especially the educators and parents, to consider the realities of what the teens in your life are going through. And more importantly, what you can do to be empathetic and help them feel like what they're managing is entirely up to them on their own. Thank you. Aiva, thank you very much and very well said. Next panelist is Hussein Amori, who is a senior at Winooski High School. Hussein. Thank you so much, Senator Sanders, for having me as an honor and a privilege. Senator Sanders, I believe I speak for every member of the Vermont High School class of 2021 when I say that this is not how we imagine a senior year of high school going. Like many students, the coronavirus pandemic has brought many challenges. Challenges that even the adults would look forward to for guidance have absolutely no solution to. In Winooski, the school district that I come home, these challenges have been nothing less than revealing. But myself, over 62% of my peers here are eligible for pre-free reduced lunch. So more than ever, school has been very crucial to us, not only education-wise, but also nutrition-wise. And this is not only a problem here in Vermont or Winooski. Food, the food crisis during this pandemic has gotten worse. Due to this or school hybrid marine model has been very useful. And that's something that I'm very grateful to, but it could be more. But it's not just food that has been an issue, but so has finding a spot with dependable internet. One-to-one at home is not sending dependable Wi-Fi. When doing remote learning, I sometimes find myself and my friend's place in search of a clear connection that I need in order to attend critical Zoom meetings. Some of them I actually miss. Having experienced a citywide COVID-19 outbreak in June of 2020, I've been in constant fear of one day transmitting the virus to a classmate. And even, like, who possibly lead to a school-wide outbreak and in turn affect my family. At Winooski, I'm not the only person with this kind of fear. I mean, earlier this year, many teachers expressed similar concerns as the school looked to reopen in accordance with the state governor's orders. This concern for food was worried about the students' health as well as their families. It has not been easy, Senator, but together I think the Winooski School District and the entire Winooski City as the whole has managed. From the teachers who have not only continued to teach, but also volunteered to try and send us food when not in school. To the custodians who make sure that every day or buildings are always sanitized, and most importantly, to the liaison who not only will translate information to families, but to a large new American population. The Winooski School District needs more than the English language to function, the liaison, to make sure that this pandemic has been absolutely unbearable. But the people that are just named have made it bearable, and I just want to say thank you to them. But Senator Sanders, I just want to say thank you to you for helping pass the American Rescue Plan, possibly the biggest relief deal in our country, more on history. A deal that will help every school in our state recover from this unbearable pandemic. And as I finish my statement here earlier today, you asked if we could somehow say something that you would want from us as students. And what I have to say to you is that we have vaccines already, and although this pandemic is nearing its ending, please know that this will not be ending. The effect of this pandemic will still be felt not only from now, but in the coming futures. But as you go on, please keep in mind that money is needed, especially through the food insecurity problem. Hussain, thank you very much. Our next panelist is Dustin Abloyne, who is a junior at North Country Freer Center. Dustin, thanks for being with us. Thank you for having me. The past years for students has been a struggle. One of the biggest struggles for me was staying connected. At home, I struggled with Wi-Fi. Living in rural Vermont doesn't really offer the best Wi-Fi solution. When we went into shutdown, I find myself being preoccupied with other things, such as working. School just not become essential for me anymore. I am and always have been a straight-A student, but missing the connection to teachers took a toll on me as it has with everybody else. I had never been technology inclined, and because of this, I found it hard to stay connected. As a hands-on worker sitting behind a computer for eight hours a day with no physical connection to teachers and classmates was really hard. The closure also made me lose touch with my friends. We couldn't play sports. I couldn't play baseball, the one sport I lived for. I also lost being able to be in Future Farmers of America, which is something I hold dear to my heart. In the fall coming back, we were in hybrid learning, so we were a little more prepared, but the connection between students and teachers was still minimal. Teachers had time to plan out some of how this was going to work with the remote learning, and although this was better, it was still not the best. After the first week of school, my wife... Dustin, you were talking about your Wi-Fi, and there it was. Yeah, we're having a little bit of issues with Dustin's Wi-Fi. Senator, do you want to move on to the next panelist? We do, and if Dustin comes back in, Katie, if Dustin comes back in, let's get back to him. You bet. Barry was talking about broadband, and we saw what he was talking about. Our next panelist is Ellie Bliss, who is a junior at the St. John'sbury Academy. Ellie? Thanks so much. I think it's safe to say that everyone here has been impacted by the pandemic, so I'm really grateful to have the opportunity to make my story heard. I'm Ellie Bliss, and after some reflection on myself and how I've changed this year, I'm confident that the largest hurdle I faced during the pandemic has been isolation, both physical and mental. I'm one of six children, and I live in a three-bedroom house with both my parents and all my siblings, which might not sound very isolated to you. I love my family, and I'm lucky that we've stayed healthy and economically stable through the pandemic, but a stressor for me has been the fact that my parents and I have very different beliefs and are very often stuck at home with each other. As someone with an appreciation for debate and a strong sense of morality, things have been pretty heated in light of all the controversy of the past year. Having close relationships with people you fundamentally disagree with on matters of human rights and morals is hard and sad, and I'm sure my parents would agree with me on that. In a normal year, though, these debates were balanced out by my interactions with like-minded, left-leaning classmates, teachers, and friends. I could keep open communication with those with different beliefs while having a community of my own to fall back on. Lately, opportunities for such fellowship are few and far between. The most I can do is bombard my partner over text with highlights from the latest debates in the Bliss household. As if gatherings and activities weren't restricted enough, in October I developed a skin condition that left me with raw weeping, red skin, and a very limited range of motion. Not only could I not socialize, but I could barely dress myself or stand up straight. I stopped going to school and became a full-time Zoom student. While I'm grateful to have gone through this in an age where education can be virtual, in many other ways this condition only compounded my sense of isolation. Now, I couldn't even keep my Zoom camera on without feeling terrible about my appearance. My teachers and classmates went months without seeing my face, and I felt almost entirely separate from the student body. My mental health also suffered due to my intense pain and major self-esteem issues. During this time, I once again turned to my partner for support, the one deep connection I had the energy to maintain through some of the most difficult months of my life. Support systems are important, and I had let almost all of mine fall into disrepair. If you're like me and you've allowed your friendships to fizzle out, I want to urge you to reach out and see if you can rekindle something. You need these people and they need you. With social distancing and masking guidelines and the advent of vaccines, we have what we need to beat this virus, but we need to make sure that along the way we're holding on to the people and the relationships that make life worth living, and moving forward, I think it's imperative that resources that will help us all do so are made available. Thank you. Ellie, thank you very much. Carson Gordon is our next panelist, and Carson is a senior at Mount Anthony Union High School. Carson. Hi, thank you for having me. As you just said, I'm Carson Gordon. I'm from Bennington, Vermont, and I am a senior at Mount Anthony Union High School. I'm here today with the rest of my fellow panelists to share my own personal COVID experiences and how I have been impacted. I'd first like to say that I'm extremely grateful that I have not lost anyone close to me to COVID, and my family is lucky enough to still be working today. But despite that, we have all faced different hardships. Over this past summer, I had to make the tough decision to unenroll for my high school and enroll in the early college program at Community College of Vermont. I would have never had the amount of time I do now to take on a full-time college loadout if it weren't for COVID. And with my high school's decision to remain entirely remote for the entire first semester, it was definitely the best decision for me. Personally, I have been looking forward to my senior year forever, all the privileges, the feeling of being the top dogs, and the genuine high school experience as a senior. I'm also a member of the Drama Club at my high school, and that has been such a huge part of my identity for the past four years. And it's the main reason why I would never have enough time to do the college work that I'm taking on now. I have performed for anyone who would watch for as long as I can remember. It's what I love doing. Not being able to have our fall musical this year was devastating, or having any performances at all. The fall musical is our biggest production of the year. Last year, we did Mary Poppins, where I played Bert the Chimney Suite. We are lucky enough to be able to fly, and I got to do flips over the stage in the number seven time. It was truly extraordinary and something I'll remember for the rest of my life. It was tough not having that experience this year for everyone, but especially for us seniors, because we will never get that chance back. At the beginning of this year, I'd begun applying to college to pursue a degree in musical theater after high school. I applied to 12 different schools, and I got auditions at only five. As of right now, I'm waiting to hear from NYU, and I'm on the waitlist at Temple. I've been denied from every other musical theater program that I had auditions. And I began to seriously doubt my performance abilities. But recently, it turns out that all those denials and no's can also be slightly related to COVID. So many students who were accepted into those programs last year deferred to start next year, as they did not want to go to school during COVID. And the spots that my class were competing for were already filled by students who got in last year. And despite this turmoil, I will continue to pursue my dreams no matter what. So I guess what I'm asking for is more consideration for us performing art students. At my school, we were not even allowed to sing in person indoors until two weeks ago. It has been so hard for us to see our fellow students be able to play sports while we only got to perform a play on Zoom and sing by ourselves in our rooms. I'm grateful for the efforts by my music teacher Lynn Sweet. It's the little things she's done now that have really made the isolation variable. That's about all I have to say. Thank you. Carson, thank you very much. Next panelist is Isabella Lafamina, who was a junior at Rutland High School. Isabella? Hi, thank you for having me. I just wanted to speak on behalf of myself, my family and some peers around me. Seeing my family was really difficult during this time. I'm very close with my grandparents. They actually lived down the street from me, but they're very high risk, so it was very difficult to be in touch with them during this time. My father also lives out of the state, so I couldn't see him, and I still haven't since the beginning of this. I was going to school and doing activities toward the beginning of the year, so it was really important for me to stay away from people who were high risk. My mom is hard of hearing, so when the mask mandate started, this was a real challenge for her. She actually had to take things into her own hands because there wasn't really a widespread option for her to be able to hear people, so she bought masks with a clear panel across the mouth. I would wear them places, and the rest of my family would, so if someone said something that she didn't understand, we could relay a message to her. And I'm really glad that I've been able to have that opportunity because it shows me that I might have it a little bit easier in this pandemic than other people. I'm also very active in the music and theater field, as Carson said. At the beginning, it was just a large halt, and there wasn't really any options for us to do anything online. I'm lucky enough to go to a school that did make that an option to start playing outside or singing outside, but it wasn't really toward the end, like he said, about two weeks ago, where they can actually start singing indoors and playing indoors with proper PPE. The same thing with clubs and activities. They were all kind of shut down, and there was no procedure to open them back up. Luckily, I have a nice school system that worked really hard to get that because it was a true mental health issue for us, because a lot of people were going to school six hours a day and had nothing really to look forward to after school. I was lucky enough to get my first COVID vaccine, and I'm really excited to be able to socialize with other vaccinated people, like my grandparents. I think it's really important that we make that an option for as many people as we can because for everybody, but especially students, we've had a really stressful year, and we haven't really been able to see the people we care about, and so I'd really like to have a summer where we can kind of relax and make up for lost time. So thank you for having me. Thank you very much, Isabel. Colin, Wesley, Palmer is a senior youth build in Burlington. And Senator, after Colin goes, Dustin is back with us, so we can talk about it. Oh, good. Hey, Dustin, we believe you about your broadband situation. That was a good trick. Excellent plan. Okay, Colin. Hello, I'm Colin Palmer, and I've been a student with Youth Build for a year. Youth Build is an exceptional small alternative school for students either looking to participate in the trades or to simply complete high school graduation requirements. However, what isn't so exceptional is COVID and the fundamentals of Youth Build itself. Youth Build was founded by Dorothy Stoneman East Harlem, New York. The movement has grown to impact thousands across the globe with educating and skills training. The purpose of Youth Build is to build houses for those in inner cities and those suffering from poverty. We can't do that here because of COVID. Lack of social interaction has left me vulnerable to withdrawing from my responsibilities and peers. I was far more comfortable and safer within the walls of my bedroom, except the safety and comfort I enjoyed the first couple weeks of quarantine quickly became intrusive thoughts and anxiety. I was both scared to reach out for help and to press wallowing under the covers of my bedsheets. My addiction to social media and screens was terrible prior to the pandemic, but it's only worsened. Any time spent at home or online was overwhelmingly frustrating and fights between my family and I became the norm. Poor quality and even periodic glitching of Zoom calls also interfered with my learning and time spent on classroom assignments. It became clear that face-to-face interaction was essential for me to truly have the successful learning experience. Eventually, it became mandatory for all able-bodied students at Youth Build to work face-to-face every couple days a week. Over time, I developed a strong relationship with resource job site instructor Brian. We discussed the frustration of isolation, mental health, and whatever little time you could spend with our loved ones. That summer, I participated in more in-person activities, painting barns, building houses, programs such as the BYCC that helped me develop a great appreciation for providing aid to those who were restricted from seeing others and who needed support the most during the pandemic. I am especially proud of my service work at the Generator Manufacturing Plan, where I created face shields from Brian discovered that he had blood cancer because any sickness, no matter how small, could kill him. The Youth Build crew decided to stock his firewood, mitigate, renovate his basement, paint his house, and most importantly, spread lots of love and positive energy. Sadly, I haven't seen Brian since that time. Reading, studying, and engaging in both politics and philosophy have become a very frequent hobby of mine. It has helped with the boredom. I chose Youth Build to participate in community service and to get involved with helping others. The incredible staff and teachers have not only fought long and hard during one of the most difficult and dangerous times of the last few years for my future, but I too wish someday I can do the same for others across the globe. Despite my frustration, my hard work and determination since the pandemic started has offered me the opportunity to teach classes myself. Thank you. Well, Colin, thank you very much. Let's go back to Dustin before his broadband collapse is on us. Thank you, Senator. It wasn't broadband this time. My computer overheated and decided to shut down. I don't know where I was when I ended, but I'll just start back in, I guess. I was saying, although that coming back was better in hybrid learning, it was still not the best. The first week of school with all the Zoom meetings and all the work online being assigned, my Wi-Fi was 80% used up within the first week, and that was for the month. This was due to being on calls with teachers and students all the time for eight hours a day and then doing my homework after we were off the calls. But with this said, hybrid learning, we're allowed to be in clubs and sports this year, so going back was a little bit easier for me. It's not been easy for students or anyone during the pandemic, but this generation has lost what will probably be close to one and a half years of real education in school. And I feel since the beginning of the pandemic, I have not learned anything new, but just been retaining what I have learned before. And it's a struggle for students to learn new things in this time, especially when they need help or hands-on working. The past is the past, but we need to focus on now and this is the future and what we can do and help students gain back what they missed. Thank you for having me and listening, and thank you for putting on this panel. Thank you very much, Dustin. Ella Portlow is a junior at Mrs. Goy Valley Union High School. Ella, thanks for being with us. Thank you. So as everybody has pretty much said, I think it goes without saying really, is that the pandemic has drastically changed the way that we live our lives. It really has added an extra level of stress on top of already the stress of being a junior in high school. When it comes to school, I've noticed a lot of changes, but there are also other aspects of my life that the pandemic has changed as well, such as just my social life, as well as outside of school activities or for some of my friends' sports. Truly, the pandemic has just really made already stressful experiences more stressful. When I think about applying to college, I don't really know where to start, because I can't to our colleges right now. Similarly, I've noticed it's a stress on my teachers as well. Teachers are having to cram in, at least for my school, the pandemic has changed the way we schedule classes, so that classes like AP classes that were supposed to be a year long are now condensed into only one semester. So that's definitely putting a strain on both students and teachers. In my peers, I have noticed that it's a lot easier to become just not paying attention and having it be trickier to retain information. When it comes to social life, obviously it's a lot trickier to hang out with people and to do so safely. And there's also kind of a feeling of guilt, at least I've noticed. You know, having not seen maybe some friends in a significant amount of time and not getting that social stimulation from school can be incredibly stressful and also mentally taxing, I think. Sports and other activities, for me, my main activity outside of school, I'm a competitive dancer. That's kind of been put on hold. Even though I am thankfully able to dance right now on my competitive dance team, it's constantly kind of being jeopardized. People are having to quarantine or we've had a couple of outbreaks or a couple of COVID cases at my studio. It's been a while now since that's happened, but it keeps being put in jeopardy and creating stress for not only teenagers but also adults as well who care about our well-being. So really, you know, to top that off, I do think on top of those stresses, there's also the stress of it's a lot trickier to get help, whether it be from teachers, whether it be from a guidance counselor. We're only in school two days a week, if that. So it just adds, I think, another level of stress. And so the good thing about this is that we're all going through it together. And if anything, I have noticed that despite the disconnect, people are kind of saying, yeah, like me too. It's not just one person going through this isolation. It's a collective. So while it is very challenging, there is good to come from it as well. So thank you. That's about all I have to say. But yeah. Thank you, Ella. Our last panelist is Lucas Whitaker, who is a junior at Hazen Union High School. Thank you. Thank you, Senator. I'm actually attending Northeast Kingdom Learning Services, and that is where I've been attending for the entirety of my junior year. And for that reason, my experience with school this year has been very different from most. N-E-K-L-S is a lot like independent study with self-paced work. I do at home without the struggle of Zoom or hybrid classes. While I was still attending Hazen Union, I had the not so pleasurable pleasure of Zoom classes at the end of my sophomore year, early 2020, when we went into lockdown. And it was the worst I've personally felt I've done in school since my elementary days. I couldn't focus. I was constantly distracted and I fell behind in most all of my classes. On top of all of this, I was living with a dying father at home during quarantine. My father was dying of stage four pancreatic cancer. And honestly, if it wasn't for quarantine, I wouldn't have been able to spend the time I did with him in his last months. Of course, this was hard on me, but my father meant the world to me. And it was truly a blessing that I was able to be there for him at the end of his life last summer, especially since I was gone for almost 12 hours a day with school combined with clubs. My heart goes out to any students or adults who have lost a loved one during this time. I know us personally had nobody that could come see us after my father's crossing because we moved here from the West Coast less than two years ago now. And the nick of time, I would not want to be living in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. I fell out of a lot of hobbies and fun activities I did before COVID. Drama club right now is nearly non-existent. And if it is existent, I don't know about it. I fell out of music. I rekindled my passion for sustainable fashion design and started an online shop that has been relatively successful though. And I got back into music recently. And if you have also stopped doing things that you love, I greatly encourage you to solely get back into it. For me, just playing a song a day helped me a lot, considering it been a year since I touched an instrument. And as of now, I'm a graduating junior. I've applied to four separate study abroad programs for my gap year. And the uncertainty of not knowing where I'm going to be later this year is definitely stressful. I'm a semi finalist for three programs as of now. And not only do I not know if I'm being accepted into a program, I don't know if these programs are even going to happen. And if they do, if they're going to be in person or virtual. And overall, I feel as if my school experiences this year have been better than most. I'm thankful for the ease of my learning. But I feel for my fellow students who are struggling more than I and the mental health of our students and the lack of services in schools has always been a passionate subject for me. And now more than ever, we need to be aware of our peers and students at the very least. Thank you. Thank you, Lucas. Let me start off by asking you all a question that many of you touched on your education has been disrupted. You're going to school a few days a week. What impact does this have on your future education? What does it mean for your plan if you're thinking about going to college? What has this last year meant in that sense, who wants to jump in on that one? Yeah. Jen, is that you? I think that's Aiva. Aiva, do you want to go ahead? Okay. Yeah, was someone else raising their hand? No, it's you. No, okay. I was going to say I'm a senior. So my junior spring was interrupted, which was typically the time you take SAT, ACTs, which fortunately this year have been mostly excused for a lot of students to not have to take. But this has meant that the majority of planning for college education, and not only just the last year, but applying, we can't tour any places. I think a few people touched on that earlier. But the application process was also really isolated. You were doing it from home with little to no interaction with your counselor, not like little to no, because they didn't want to, but because you were stuck at home. And I think that made it especially difficult, even for people whose parents might be acquainted with it. And I think we're seeing, I know I was talking with a lot of friends back at my school who are first generation, and to try to navigate that process on their own is really, really difficult. So I think Aiva, are you worried that you're not going to be prepared for college because of what you missed in your senior years on an issue? I don't think, I think I'm, I feel really fortunate that I think actually a lot of the quality of my education has been pretty good. I think I feel prepared, but I think it came at a pretty big cost of mental well-being. Okay. Who else wants to jump in on that one? Yes. Yeah. Carson, go ahead. Carson. Yeah. Carson. So I last nice spring of my junior year was halted last year. And from when we switched to remote, then on for the rest of my junior year, I did, I felt like I learned nothing. Anything I was doing, I was retaining for a short period of time just to reproduce on a test like a week later. And then it was just gone for my brain. And then now when I'm doing, I'm doing my freshman year of college at CCV. And I feel like I'm learning a little bit more because I'm taking, I'm signed up for classes that I actually genuinely had interest in. And that's a little bit better, but it's still completely different. I'm last semester, I had no communication with any of my teachers, like zoom wise, we could, I had email, we had that, but there was no time like this where we could conversate. It was just digital. And then this semester, I only have two zooms in there one time a week. So it's such a different learning process, but it's kind of preparing me for what college might be like next year or what it was like for other people. And that's kind of my experience with school. Anyone else want to jump in on that one? Yes. Yeah. Ellie? Ellie. So this is just what I've heard personally at my school. My advisor told me that teachers are being told to attempt to teach about 50% of their normal course load for the year. I can't confirm if that's the case in every class, but in my experience classes are not nearly as well rounded as they have been in past years. And that has been a concern for me in terms of getting ready to go to college. And additionally, I'm in the upper bound program. And a huge part of that is preparing for the SAT. And the resources that upper bound has given me in that area are is so much of what has made me feel well prepared for college. So actually, well, I'm glad that the SAT is being waived has been a blessing for so many people that actually has been a source of concern for me, because like I was kind of counting on, in some cases, my SAT taking skills that upper bound has given me. So yeah, I don't have that to fall back on anymore. Okay. All right, let me switch gear. And Katie, we have some questions that people have submitted as well, right? Yes, we do. And we have some that we can take live. Okay. You all have gone through a year that young people have never had to go through before. And that in many ways, you are relating to your friends via zoom rather than in person. What impact has all of that have had on your your lives, not being able to be with your friends or or your broader family, your aunts and uncles and grandparents and so forth. How how has that impacted you? Who wants to jump in on that one? Yeah. Pauline? Oh, sorry. Who's saying go ahead? Yeah. So part of being friends with people is the ability to be there for the most crucial moments, whether that be their birthdays, whether that be them getting to their dream school and stuff like that. And throughout this year, I would say that unfortunately, I have not been able to do that. And it just makes me very sad because I think we all want to be supportive to our friends. We want, you know, we all want the best for, you know, for loved ones, especially those within school. And, you know, unfortunately, that, you know, the ability of not being able to see them. And actually, you know, being able to send a text, which in so many ways, just doesn't really do much compared that to a hike or something like that, which I agree we miss and, you know, to, you know, so many level. And, you know, I hope in the coming months, coming years, you know, things can change because, you know, celebrating people is the great things, the great thing. Right. Colin, did you want to jump in on that? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Senator Sanders. So I have two different perspectives. I have my perspective and a friend of mine who I interviewed myself my own free time about her perspective because she was curious and what I was doing today. And first, I'm going to share mine. And like I said, in my speech, being here home alone during the pandemic, spending more time just locked around and locked up in my bedroom, it has been very hard for me to jump back in to basically just society in general. It has been hard for me to really... Why is that Colin? Why is that? I couldn't really tell you. I think it's partly because of some of my diagnosis. And since I was young, it has been exceptionally hard for me to interact with other people. I used to go to camp specifically for people with autism, so they can get used to interacting with others in person on a daily basis, making friendship, making interaction. And I think just being here during the pandemic, just hiding your way on my computer, it has been... It has basically just kind of torn that down a bit. I'm very thankful for being in person at YouthBuild. That's basically, I feel like that's definitely saved that. But I don't know. It's been very hard to see my friends. Okay, got it. Okay. That's good. As opposed to my... Oh, sorry. No, you want to relate with your friend that told you? Yes. On the other hand, my friend, similar to the rest of you or just to the... I'm assuming a good majority of you, is that she has ADHD and she desperately requires interaction with her friends and her teachers and other people outside of her school in order to actually keep learning. She can't really learn. She can't really focus in school without that interaction. She needs that friendship. It's like she needs the nurturing from that. And it's very difficult for her to participate in anything without that interaction either. So she's had a hard year, huh? Yes, very. Okay. All right. Who else wants to jump in on that issue? Yep. Dustin? I think so much of what we do, especially in Vermont, is with other people. And when we were told we can't be with other people, it took a toll on everybody. For those of us that play sports or in clubs, even going to work, it took a toll on everybody, especially when we're in school. I think the biggest part of being in school is having your classmates and your friends with you and being connected with your teacher so you can have help right there. Look, the truth is, human beings are social animals. We weren't born to be living in isolation. We're born to be with friends and socialize and make new friends. And this last year has been the exception to that rule. So each and every one of you and your friends, you know, don't think it unusual what you are feeling. It's a natural reaction to an unnatural situation. Katie, do we want to go to some questions? Do you think? Yeah, I think that would be great. Okay. We have one all queued up. All right. Great. So just as a reminder for folks who are on our Webex platform, if you do want to ask a question and haven't yet, just use the raise hand button and then type it in the chat. And for anyone who's just on the phone, you can still ask a question by pressing star three. Okay, so just listen for your name because that is how we are going to call you and then you'll take yourself off mute. So our first question is going to be from Isabel. Isabel is with us from Burlington tonight. And Isabel has a question for you specifically about how young people can help talk to legislators about policy. So Isabel, you are now live with Senator Sanders. Please go ahead with your question, Isabel. Hi, Senator Sanders. I'm wondering in terms of health care, including mental health treatment and resources, how can we as students assist policymakers in pushing forward policy that supports these initiatives? Furthermore, what can we do as students in our own communities to alleviate mental health problems, which have been exacerbated by COVID-19? Well, thank you for that wonderful question, Isabel. This country has for a long time been facing many challenges regarding mental health. We don't have enough counselors, we don't have enough psychologists, we don't have enough psychiatrists. We don't have psychiatrists to focus on children's needs. That has been the fact the COVID pandemic has made a bad situation worse because of all of the stress and anxiety that people are feeling. The legislation that I referred to and some of you referred to, the emergency bill that we just passed last week, will provide many, many, many billions of dollars specifically for mental health, for community health centers who provide a mental health counseling for the training of more psychologists and psychiatrists, etc. In terms of how you can impact, look, democracy is not all that complicated. And that is, if you and your friends go to a school board meeting and say, look, we go to school here at the high school, and these are our concerns, I suspect the school board will listen to you. If you go to Montpelio and start talking to your legislatures, legislators, they will listen to you as well. We are a small state, and then I think elected officials are pretty responsive to the people who contact them. And I would hope that more and more young people do just that. Your voices are important. You're the future of this country. And even if you're not 18 yet, or voting, it doesn't matter. You have a right to express your point of view, especially in this very difficult moment that you and your friends are living through. But what I just would say is that the legislation passed is going to provide a huge amount of money to hopefully improve the mental health crisis that we are facing as a state in that country. Mark, Katie, we got all the questions? Yes, we're going to take our next question from folks who are watching live on YouTube. I would just ask at this point to invite our adults to turn their cameras on. So if Senator Sanders wants to turn to you for some of your expertise, we can also see you at this point. So our next question, Senator, is from Grace in Bellows Falls. And Grace asks you, are there any plans right now for creating more accessible options for mental health specifically to support youth? The answer is yes. But getting back to Isabel's question, we need your help, guys, in order to know what works best for you. For example, the idea of bringing counselors, more counselors, more mental health capabilities into the schools, the ideas of doing group sessions in schools, what ideas, let me throw it back to Grace or to anybody, any of the kids who are on the panel, what can we do to help with mental health challenges facing young people today who wants to help me out on that? Yes. So I feel like it's really important that we make mental health services in schools pretty accessible and easy to use. Right now, especially, we're not in school in person or if that, like a hybrid learning model. So it's harder to even see people and much less reach out to a counselor. And so if it was easier to access through school, I think students would be taking advantage of those resources, as well as I think another key component to making on campus, on campus, some resources like helpful is making them diverse and making sure that there's like a diverse range of mental health professionals available if possible as well. Good point. By the way, let me ask you the students the question. Have you been able to take advantage of mental health counseling on Zoom? Is that something that has been available? Yes, Colin. Thank you, Senator Sanders. No. I was checked into the hospital in January and I was offered, I was initially offered to just stay entirely sober, I guess, not like no meds. Initially was told to take no meds. And I was told to just apply for therapy. And they offered suggestions on who to go see, what group therapists to apply to. And I did and since then I have, and it makes sense, I understand why. But social services have just not been available. I am currently on a two month waiting list to go see a therapist. And I have not received any information since. Okay. Who else wants to jump in on that? Maybe one of our adult experts might want to jump in on that one. Any thoughts? Yes. So Colin, thanks for your comment. I just want to offer that. Please introduce yourself. I'm sorry. Yes. My name is Kath Burns and I have a number of roles. I'm a psychologist. I see kids in the doctor's office. I also work for Vermont care partners and I also work for this COVID support VT FEMA grant. And I really appreciate what you're all saying about mental health and we need to make it accessible and it's really important. So I have a few thoughts about other places you can look or ask for help because I think as Senator Sanders said, we don't have enough therapists in the state right now, let alone in the country. And we have a designated agency system here in our state where we're doing our best to try to reach everyone. But there's just a lot of need everywhere. So I think it's really important to reach out to your school counselors. I think doctors offices doctors are working really hard to see kids and work with them to support them while they wait or even provide the support themselves. A lot of people for great reasons are uncomfortable going to groups because it feels weird to be in a group of people talking about your stuff. But I highly recommend you give it a try. And a number of you talked about really forcing yourselves to try to do things that you love every day and trying to connect in some ways every day. It's just so important and so critical and it does help a little bit. So those are just a few thoughts for you to think about. Thank you. Okay. Katie, we have other questions? Sure. We'll take our next question live. Also, the next question is going to come from Cody. Cody is calling us from Thetford. Cody, you are live with Senator Sanders with your question when you're ready. Okay. Hello, Senator Sanders. So I'm wondering this kind of goes back to what one of the other students had said about like what can we do to make to move things forward and make an overall change. And I think the healthcare and other essential workers have been amazing in this whole process. So what can we do besides using our words, which are very important, what actual action steps can we take that will make physical changes? Well, that's a great question. And I'll say a few words on it, nothing profound and we'll open it up to other people. Look, you know, I think if this pandemic and the isolation has taught us anything, it may be is how much we need each other as human beings. And that Zoom doesn't do it that we need to be around people. And I think maybe a painful lesson that we learn is that in the coming years, we figure out how we create stronger community of all kinds within our communities within our schools. But let me throw out something to some of you. We have tripled funding, triple funding for summer programs. And the reason we did that is number one, we wanted to help you guys and kids all over America, you know, kind of regain some of the academic stuff that you may not have been able to deal with be, we wanted you to be able to better socialize and and see if for some of you, whose families may need some money, maybe get some job opportunities as well. Give me some ideas about how we can really have some great summer programs this year. Anyone have some thoughts about that? What should we be doing? That's really, really cool. Okay. Yeah, I see a hand up here. Yes. I'm sorry, I don't see a name. Hi, I'm Jen Olson. I'm from Hayes and Union High School. Hi. Thanks for having me here tonight, Senator Sanders. One recommendation I would have for use of funds is to expand WIOA Workforce Investment Opportunity Act for more youth to be able to access those programs, to get paid work experiences supported by the Department of Labor, supported by schools, and to really get kids out there getting experiences in the workplace with mentors. That would be something I would really recommend moving forward. Good. Well, how do you guys feel about that? Would some of you or your friends take advantage of job opportunities being made available? Okay, who wants to say a word on that? Would a good sum of job at, say, 15 bucks an hour be meaningful to you? All right, who wants to talk on that one? Oh, jump in. Lucas has his hand raised, Senator. Lucas. Thank you, Senator. Yes, I do believe that that would be a greatly appreciated opportunity by many students. I, for one, am very late saving money for college. I'm going to be applying later this year. And although I do have a summer job, I can attend. I know that there are a lot of students that don't have those local jobs that they can apply for that are guaranteed to make them enough money for future goals. And some people might even need that money to support themselves. And unfortunately, their families as well. Okay. All right, more discussion about whether summer jobs are a good idea. Yes. Mine was more about other ideas for summer programs. Is that okay? Yes, absolutely. So what I was thinking is normally during the school year, colleges will come to our guidance counselor's office. And if they're if you hear over the announcements that a college you're interested in is going to be at your guidance counselor's office, you'd come down to the guidance counselor's office and hear what that college has to talk about. So maybe over the summer, we have some kind of program where you can for where underclassmen can like explore college opportunities that they missed this year. That's a great idea. That's a great idea. So during the summer, we can have colleges come and kids know about it. That's great. Good idea. Other ideas. Yes. Patti, we got a hand up there. Yeah. There it is. Colin, go ahead, please, Colin. Yeah. Okay. And we have another hand, young lady. I don't know how much this relates to the question. I apologize. But I say maybe introduce some pitches to some community service programs, maybe like the AmeriCorps. Good. Yeah. Anything involving like maybe like disaster services or just traveling the globe or yeah. That's exactly what we all think about. Okay. It was young lady whose hand was up. Disappear. Okay. Ellie, is that you? Yeah. No, it's not me. Okay. Don't see a hand raised except for who's saying right now. If somebody does have their hand raising and your camera's not on, then I cannot see you. Okay. Hussain, take it away. Thank you so much, Sanders. I think I really believe that you know, expanding funding to some of the existing programs that we have in our state and our country might be a really good idea. I'm currently a member of the UVM Apobon Group, which exists to help, you know, low income students like myself, you know, be better prepared for college. And right now, I don't think they have the money they need to be, you know, to better, you know, aid some of the existing members that they have. And, you know, some of those, some of those members like myself, you know, have really struggled, you know, with the pandemic as I previously stated. And I really believe just, you know, helping them, you know, giving them all money is an awesome idea because they're doing so much work. They are doing a terrific job. And I know some of you are in the one or another trio program. They have a tremendous success rate of getting kids whose parents have not been to college, being able to get to school and something we are strongly supported. Other thoughts? Yep. That's Ellie, I think. Yeah, so I just had to add to the what you were mentioning on opportunities for summer jobs. I fortunately was recently able to find a job. But I know that for the first several months of the pandemic, I had been job searching and I didn't have any luck until about a month ago. And I know that where where I live, we've been lucky to not have been hit too hard. But I do think that in less rural areas of Vermont, and places that have been hit a little harder, I think even more so in those areas, job opportunities would be would be much appreciated. Well, above and beyond summer programs, I want you to know that we are working on a massive piece of legislation which will help us provide trillions of dollars to rebuild our infrastructure to deal with broadband, to deal with climate change. And when we do that, we can create millions of jobs and opportunities for young people to get trained into a whole lot of good jobs. So we're working on that as well. But I what I'm hearing from you guys is that an important part of the summer program would be job opportunities. I'm seeing everybody seems to think that's a pretty good idea. Anyone else want to comment on that? What kind of job opportunities? What else can we do this summer? Senator Sanders, this is Folly Morehouse. Hey Holly, how are you? Hey, great. I'd love to chime in on the summer piece. Because I want to lift back up some of the things that the youth panelists shared about what feeds their soul and feeds that connection. Holly, you should introduce yourself. Tell people what you do. Yes. Hi, everyone. I run Vermont after school, which is a statewide nonprofit. And what we really focus on is providing programs and opportunities for children and youth outside the school day and over the summer. And so many of the youth panelists spoke to when I think of Carson and Isabella and Lucas talking about music and theater and drama. And I imagine the summer where Dustin's playing baseball and Ella's dancing and Hussein has access to food. The food programs that we talk about are so important in the summer. So when I think any summer program and Iva and Ellie talked about fellowship and community, so having spaces for our teens, often when we think of summer programs, maybe we think of little kids. But I think this summer with the dollars that are coming through the Act, Senator, this is a chance to really do something different and more for our teenagers. And I want to tag also on Colin's piece about adult role models and mentors and helping teens and youth reentry and rebuild those connections with friendships they spoke about. So yes, it's about jobs. Yes, it's about learning. But I think it's also about the soul, right? And those activities and those connections. Well, Holly is going to be helping us. She's working with the governor's office and my office and helping to craft summer programs. And Holly, I suspect you would love to hear from the young people, right? Get their ideas? Absolutely. I'd love all their ideas. I would love for them to help make connections between their schools and community partners to really do something different. Let's make summer 2021 different than anything we've ever imagined or seen for young people in our state. And this year, like other years, we have the money to do it. All right? So Holly, why don't you give them, can you give them your phone number? I can. Absolutely. So you can call Vermont after school at 802-334. I don't call myself. Now, 448-3464. Sorry about that. 802-448-3464. The other thing that I wanted to tag for Grace and Cody who asked about youth voice and how to weigh in, the Vermont legislature has a bill right now. It's H293 that would create a state youth council in Vermont, the first ever. It should be going to the House floor this week to be voted on. So if you would like to connect your call and connect with your local representatives or learn more about that bill, you can also call and find out about that. So it would create the first state youth council with standing committees, including on mental health, climate change, education, youth voice, and more. So I hope that to hear your voices on that as well. Thank you. All right. We will get to you. Katie will get to you Holly's number in case somebody didn't shout it out. But here's the point. We've actually already put it in the chat, Senator. So we'll see it in the chat. Katie is always ahead of me. There you go. It was Catarina on this one. All right, Catarina. Thank you. She's ahead of me too. All right. Point here is, guys, these programs are designed for you and your friends. You are the ones who know more about anybody else about what you need. All right. So give input into to help us design, as Holly was saying, the best summer program we have ever had. And it's got to incorporate helping you make up for lost academic work. You need to be with your friends. Just have a good time in recreation or one thing or another. And we're talking about summer jobs as well. All right. What do we leave an out of it? What else should we be doing this summer? Yup. Yes. Hi, Senator Sanders. This is Karen Price, and I'm calling from the Vermont Family Network. So we work with families of children and youth with disabilities. And often students with disabilities will get extended school year programs, so they often do get summer programming. But a lot of times the summer programming is light, sort of like school year light. Students with disabilities have lost probably more than a typical student during this pandemic. And they will probably require programs that are much more robust in the summer, you know, perhaps requiring therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy. And I would I would say that I hope that the schools will be able to provide basically more robust services for kids with disabilities. So whether it's academic or other, yeah. Good. Thank you very much. Holly, you got that? Okay. Other thoughts? Yup. Hi, I'm Phyllis Correo. I'm the school counselor at Proctor Junior Senior High School. And my case load is from grades seven through 12. And I am hearing all of what your voices are saying. And I agree 100% that we do need more time to develop programming for the summer. I'm hoping that there will be a push this summer for more school counseling programs. Typically, school counselors don't work over the summer, but we are all willing to do so this summer to develop mental wellness programs for our students. I'm usually around the clock working anyway. So to be here on campus and be with my students would be great. And I would love to develop a plan and a program for the whole district where kids can actually be here on campus. We can take college visits even if it's virtually and do a lot of anything from seven through 12 and develop a plan that will be really geared toward their mental wellness and assimilating back into the school day. That is a great idea. Holly, what do you think? Good idea? Absolutely. That's an amazing idea, right? And that's thinking outside those constraints of school year and school day. That's right. So I mean, we heard an earlier idea that we should bring colleges onto pro summer programs because, you know, that's where kids can interact with colleges they may want to attend. Are we getting some good ideas? Guys, you guys are on fire. What else you got? Well, some ideas. Yup. That is Carson. I was thinking, since we haven't had very, very limited performing opportunities over the summer, when vaccines start to roll out again, we can be together again, more opportunities to sing together, dance together, put on plays and music together. And not only do that, you could take your work around the state. People I think are very desirous of seeing live performances once we're able to get out. Great idea. All right. Who else has an idea? Yup. Me, right? Yup. I think that for me, I've had a career path in mind from a very young age, and I think something that would be really helpful. For me at this point, it'll be after high school, but I think especially for underclassmen, it would be really helpful, especially after this year, to have some sort of career services opportunities, to have kids be able to look into whether it's trades or something that requires a four-year education or beyond, to give kids that information and possibly even integration into what that would look like. I think that would be really helpful. That is a great idea. I have a great idea. Holly, are you writing all this down? All right. There you go. Yes. Hussain? Thank you so much, Senator Sanders. I think another great idea that I'm very passionate about is using that money to give youth the space to continue to practice democracy, to continue to practice our activism. Because I think with the whole pandemic, one of the things that I love doing before pre-pandemic, with joining rallies and just protesting for the issues that I really care about, and I think using that money to actually continue to do the same is an absolutely great idea. It is from my perspective. There are some great summer programs historically that we've had usually run through the governor's office, which deals with issues like that. I'm not sure what the status is of those programs, but I think Hussain makes a good point in that one as well. Other thoughts for the summer? Yeah. That is early, I think. Yeah. I just wanted to echo what I've always saying about the need for career guidance, because as an extension to the college uncertainty that we're facing right now, beyond that, we're already worried about our careers and what we're going to be going into. And for people who aren't on the college path and are considering maybe trade schools are going straight into careers, I think that might be even more pressing. And as someone who doesn't have a very clear career path in mind, I'm feeling that I'm even more so in need of that guidance and I would find programs like that really beneficial. Excellent. I mean, what you guys are saying is really kind of commonsensical. You couldn't do it during the school year, we're going to have to bring it to you in the summer, that's all. Who's that? Is that Dustin there? Yep. Okay, Dustin, what do you think? To add on as we're talking about careers, I know my school has a career center. I was wondering if there's any programs or anything that helps career centers during times like this or anything that can be done to help career centers help students going into their future or to expand these programs for students that are looking for careers. Good point. Look, what we're saying here, guys, is we could do what we want to do. I mean, it's not anything that's rigid there. What we're trying to figure out is this has been an unprecedented year. So what many of you are now saying is look, we couldn't do A, B, and C during the school year, we're going to have to do it in the summer, whatever it may be. So the answer to your question is, yeah, we could do it. If there is a will, we can do it if it makes sense to people. Okay, let me get more hands. People have not spoken much. Anybody out there wasn't yet contributed to this. And let's talk with the kids. Any young people have want to add? All right, now the older people. All right, let's hear from the adults. Any thoughts? Yes. This is Kath Burns again. I do think that one positive thing, there actually could be many positive things that could come out of this whole experience. But one positive thing is that we have an opportunity here to do something about stigma. You know, we heard, I'm sorry, I can't remember which very bright person told us today, her poll said eight out of 10 kids are saying their mental health is really affected. And that matches what we know. Oh, it was Aiva. It matches what we know. Yeah, well done. It matches what we know nationwide that eight out of 10 adults are saying the same thing. So isn't it a great opportunity to finally do something about stigma that keeps people from seeking support? And an idea for the summer program is there's youth mental health first aid, there's teen mental health first aid, there's some grants around that. If we could have more of that coming into the state, then kids can learn more about how to talk to each other about what to do about that. Adults can know how to respond. That's really important. And we can, and it would just be so very hard. Let me just say what I said a moment ago. Okay. Think in a very new way. There is enough money. We have worked hard. We have tripled funding. How's that? Not double funding, triple funding. So don't go by the old rules. And we did that because we understand that this country and the kids in particular have gone through a terrible year. And we got a lot of work to do in all kinds of ways. So think big on this one and let's, you know, work with Holly and everybody else to come up with some great programs. Yeah. Okay. Usain. Thank you. Usain has his camera off right now. All right. Who else had a hand? I'm sorry. Oh, it looks like Colin, you've got your hand up. Who got Colin, dude? Okay. Colin? Yes. Thank you. I guess maybe like not necessarily educating mental health, but for like students, but I think maybe looking for programs for adults in particular, especially parents, because the mental health of young people and students is also greatly affected by their parents. And I was having a conversation with one of my teachers earlier today and he noted the importance of how many parents are drinking during COVID, like they're drinking during the day around their children. How often I see parents and how they react to their children when they, like my girlfriend in particular, who has an eating disorder, her mother supports her, but it is, she doesn't understand. And it's not her fault, but there's just a lack of understanding and it's just- Colin, it's a great point. All right. So in other words, we got to deal with the whole family. Yeah. All right. And I think that that is something that we should be looking at. It's not just, you know, kids have moms and dads who are struggling as well. So let's figure out how we can, in some cases, bring parents into the equation. Other thoughts? Okay, that's, uh, okay. Oh, I got two hands here. Who's that? Isabella? Okay. Isabella, do you want to go? Okay, Isabella. I was just going to go off the point that Colin made about, you know, maybe even educating our teachers about these mental health problems with, like, some of them may not understand that when a student is falling behind, it may not mean that they're lacking that knowledge. It might mean they're lacking that motivation to actually do those things that they need to be doing. And sometimes teachers aren't always understanding of those things. And so I think it'd be really useful for our teachers to know how to deal with those things and not just our counselors, because sometimes that's just another middleman. So that's all I have to say. Good. Very good point. Okay. Great. I was just going to specify that, I think, in therapy or counseling and whatever capacity that's implemented, I think specifically, like, trauma response is super, super important. I think people, we don't even necessarily realize the amount of trauma we've encountered this past year in COVID and political issues, human rights, I think that kids especially need a place that isn't just a regular, maybe therapy appointment, but also like widespread trauma education and how we move forward with that. Because I think that's affecting kids of all ages, and we'll continue to do so. Good. Good point. Yep. I see a hand here. I see two hands. Looks like Dr. Stein and Lucas. Okay, Dr. Stein. Well, I was just going to hop on that point and the points that have been made so far about the increasing use of substances during the pandemic. I think everybody's seen in the news the increase in overdose deaths. This is a huge impact to families. It's going to impact all of our kids and our future. So finding ways to help develop coping strategies and deal with trauma to that point, the trauma that's affected families in a as healthy way as possible to as well as informing about the risks of substance use. Okay. Other thoughts? Ellie? I just wanted to know, we've mentioned how teachers are so crucial to kind of moving forward and to being a support system for students. So to kind of jump off of that, I think that resources for teachers themselves and having support systems that involve faculty and staff, I think that is something that's going to be crucial. Good. That's right. Your teachers have also undergone a very, very difficult year. Okay. Fady, if we can get the names underneath the people, that would make my life easier. Sure. I think if you move your mouse, they should pop up automatically. Thank you. I wanted to second everything that especially, I believe, I'm sorry, I believe your name was Isabel and Iva said, education is the first huge step in the right direction for reducing the stigma around mental health and trauma conversations. I think that Iva brought up a really good point speaking about teachers and school officials being educated about trauma response, especially, I know that in my area of rule of Vermont that there's a lot of generational trauma here and teachers need to learn how to respond to that. And on top of that, I wanted to, I tried, I wanted to say this earlier, but I just wanted to throw out there really quick that Nami Vermont is a really good resource for people who need mental health resources. They have free peer led support groups for both families and individuals struggling with mental illness. Okay. All right. If there's, anybody else who wants to jump in and make a point or two, that'd be great, but I think we should probably wind it up. Yeah, that's, Phyllis, did you want to? Yeah, I just wanted to say one thing. This has been an unprecedented year and unfortunately, as a school counselor, we don't get to do our true counseling that we can in typical years. So I'm really encouraging you guys to reach out to your school counselor because we don't know what's going on for you because we don't physically see you that often. And it's important in last year, or years past, I can see my students, I can see their look on their face and I knew something was wrong. This year, I can't see them that way. So it's really important to reach out because we want to be there. We want to help. We love our students. So don't feel discouraged. Just reach out to them and they can also be the conduit to your teachers. Good point. All right. Anybody else want to jump in with the last point or two? All right. Hey, well, let me thank all of our panelists, the people who've asked questions and our adult experts who are working so hard for the young people in the state of Vermont. All right. Bottom line is that we're all in this together. Let's keep working together. Let's go back to our schools and rally young people to get involved and keep giving ideas to Holly and other people about how we can make this a great summer which you all deserve. So thank you all very much for being with us tonight. And hopefully, I'll see you in person at some time soon. Okay. Thanks all guys.