September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 24

HEALTH & WELLNESS
Teens graduate from the Teen Mental
Health First Aid course in 2023.
Recreation Professionals Support
Teen Mental Health
By Ashley Faulcon, MPA
W
hen I was approached to teach Teen Mental Health First
Aid to the members of the East Brunswick (New Jersey)
Youth Council, I was immediately taken aback. Rampant
thoughts of disbelief entered my mind: " How can I help
anyone with their mental health? " " I am not a teacher. " " My schedule is
busy enough as it is. " " Surely, these kids don't need the help of a recreation
professional! " The very thought of putting a child's mental wellness in my
hands terrified me, and it nearly dissuaded me from even considering going
forward with the certification process. If it weren't for the help of my friend
and colleague, John Roche, I would not be sitting here with four years of
experience and two separate certifications under my belt. Roche told me
that even if we helped just one student who was going through a mental
health challenge, all the work that we put in would have been worth it.
In 2021, the National Council
for Mental Wellbeing announced
that funding from a New Jersey
Pandemic Relief Fund was being
used to certify adults to teach
Teen Mental Health First Aid.
The course instructs adults how
to teach teens (ages 15-18) to recognize
warning signs of a mental
health struggle and get appropriate
help when needed. Through this
grant, we have been able to certi24
Parks & Recreation | SEP T EMBER 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
fy more than 100 students as Teen
Mental Health First Aiders. Teen
Mental Health First Aiders know
how to look for warning signs, ask
their friends how they are, listen to
their friends talk about their struggles
and help their friends get appropriate
help while maintaining
their friendship. The grant funding
has paid for all class materials and
the full training of John, Caitlin
Kehoe from East Brunswick's Daisy
Recreation, and me.
The team at the National Council
for Wellbeing, specifically within
the Mental Health First Aid chapter,
made it possible to receive this
training. Everyone we worked with
during this training for both Youth
Mental Health First Aid and Teen
PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHLEY FAULCON, TOWNSHIP OF
EAST BRUNSWICK (NEW JERSEY)

September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Intro
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Cover1
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Cover2
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 1
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 2
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 3
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 4
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 5
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 6
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 7
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 8
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 9
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 10
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 11
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 12
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 13
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 14
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 15
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 16
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 17
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 18
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 19
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 20
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 21
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 22
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 23
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 24
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 25
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 26
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 27
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 28
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 29
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 30
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 31
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 32
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 33
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 34
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 35
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 36
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 37
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 38
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 39
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 40
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 41
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 42
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 43
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 44
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 45
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 46
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 47
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 48
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 49
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 50
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 51
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 52
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 53
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 54
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 55
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 56
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Cover3
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - Cover4
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com