A Marathon County eNewsletter
While National Mental Health Awareness Month may have origins dating back to the late 1800s, its mission today remains unchanged. Learn about the mental health challenges facing today’s youth, and what steps our community is taking to address them. (Click title to read full article…)
Through a grant from Security Health, area schools in Marathon County have been able to utilize the b.e.s.t. screening tool to determine how students are adjusting to school closures in terms of their mental health. This has helped school staff to create and deliver interventions to support our local students.
In addition, the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service (WIPPS) conducted research with 160 middle and high school students from across Wisconsin (many from our rural schools) in a study entitled “The Voices of Wisconsin Student Projects: Learning, Coping, and Building Resilience During COVID-19.” Read the full article for the project’s findings regarding the impact of school closures on students’ learning and what coping skills they are employing during this difficult time. (Click the title for details.)
In Marathon County, approximately 14% of students attending high school are students with disabilities.
MCSE staff assist area students with making a smooth transition to life after high school. For the 2020–21 school year, Marathon County Special Education and ODC collaborated on writing — and then received — a grant for $10,000 to teach courses on healthy relationships and work skills.
Learn more about how MCSE helps transition its high schoolers to higher education, the military, or the world of work in the full article…(Click the title for details.)
With 42% of Marathon County high school students reporting significant problems with anxiety in a 2019 survey — and considering the additional stressors that the current COVID-19 crisis is placing on our adolescents — the time to address the mental health and well-being of our youth has never been more critical.
Thanks to the Marathon County School-Based Counseling Consortium, students throughout 57 schools in the County now have access to a school counselor or school psychologist during their school day to support them with school-related or personal challenges, regardless of their age or disability status. With students at home now, such services have been extended in many schools to include TeleHealth sessions via Zoom to help students with anxiety brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, as well as other mental health needs. (Click the title for details…)
It’s estimated that Marathon County has around 6 Mennonite or Amish church schools, hosting nearly 360 students in Grades 1–8. Marathon County Special Education respects the religious freedom of the Amish and the Mennonites to educate their children on their own, yet County staff have a legal obligation to offer them their support and educational expertise with children who have special needs to help these communities achieve their educational objectives for all their children. (Click the title for details…)
The heritage of families in rural communities in Marathon County has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. One example of this can be seen in Abbotsford. Today, Hispanic students in Abbotsford represent 51% of the total student body. Marathon County Special Education has been working closely with the Abbotsford School District to ensure that students who need specially designed instruction are receiving appropriate services.
Read on to learn more about Abbotsford’s transformational story. (Click the title for details…)
Marathon County Special Education professionals are working hard to ensure that over 400 local students who are differently abled are prepared with employability, community living, and self-advocacy skills to succeed in life after high school. Hosting a Rural Community Conversation event, attending a Transition Improvement Planning Fair, and securing a Transition Readiness Grant are but a few of the ways MCSE is helping students build bridges to employment and post-secondary options so they may reach their fullest potential. (Click the title for details…)
Dr. Kelly Kapitz, Director of Special Education, provides insights into the top-5 questions people ask the Marathon County Children with Disabilities Education Board, which employs over 100 staff members who provide education and support to over 450 students in 6 rural schools: Abbotsford, Athens, Edgar, Marathon, Rosholt, and Spencer. (Click the title for details…)
We asked several local community leaders — plus our Editorial Board — to share what they’re grateful for in 2018 and what they’re looking forward to in 2019. Their answers run the gamut from A to Z… Awe-inspiring to zany! (Click the title to learn more.)
Dr. Kelly Kapitz shares how a unique collaboration between Marshfield Clinic, Marathon County, and 10 area school districts will make a dedicated physician available to provide support to school nurses. (Click the title for details…)
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