Before Edina-based Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (CSCOE) started its Peace of Mind initiative one year ago, its staff surveyed principals about what keeps them up at night. The answer was “almost unanimous,” said Brian Ragatz, CSCOE president.
Mental health and wellness topped the list, but Ragatz said the answer went deeper. “It wasn’t just the students,” he said. “It was the concern for their parents. It was a concern for teachers. And, ultimately, I was very concerned about our principals, who had to make very challenging decisions that, for some, people didn’t like.” Ragatz, a former school principal, added that it’s a very lonely job.
Brian Ragatz
Through hard work, prayer and discussion with licensed psychologist Jules Nolan, operating partner of Minneapolis-based Phoenix School Counseling, Ragatz said a plan was developed for how to support schools. “What we found was that not only did kids and teachers and principals need support, but so did parents,” he said.
Ragatz said he recently overheard a group of parents talking in a Target store about a Zoom session with Nolan on raising resilient children and being calm in chaos. “These parents were just in awe” over her presentations, he said, “and how simple some of these things can be.”
Ragatz and Nolan recently joined “Practicing Catholic” program host Patrick Conley to describe Peace of Mind’s impact and preview “Peace of Mind 2.0” — which is the program offered this school year. While offerings of the original program will continue in all Catholic schools, CSCOE is also working with 10 partner schools on research-based ways to help all staff at schools assist children, including shining a light on the things about a child that are perfectly right, Nolan said. These strategies are not based on the way a child performs, or about their skills, or about competition, she said, but rather on internal attributes like kindness and thoughtfulness, passion and intensity.
Jules Nolan
Even before the pandemic, Nolan said, “we had an explosion in anxiety in children.” “But since the pandemic, we have seen an increase in issues like perfectionism, in depression, in lack of motivation. Eating issues. Eating disorders have just gone through the roof,” even in young children, she said.
Nolan also mentioned an increase in conflict and that “kids just don’t feel as inspired as they used to be. Their social skills are lower than they used to be.”
She stressed the importance of communities, families and schools paying attention to these “most important” social and emotional learning skills. “We know that’s the best predictor of outcomes for kids,” Nolan said.
Nolan added that to protect children’s mental health, parents and others must protect their own. “So, taking care of ourselves, making sure that we have the rest that we need, that we’re eating well, that we’re exercising — all those things, but then finding the inspirational parts of your life and really indulging in that. Why do you do what you do vocationally? Why are you a parent? What is your calling to live on this earth? When you connect with that, when you connect with the people that inspire you, that protects your mental health. And when your mental health is protected, so are your children.”
At every session she leads, Nolan said, she tells participants that if they hear nothing but one phrase, one message, “this is it.” To learn what that is, to learn more about the Peace of Mind initiative and to hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It airs at 9 p.m. Sept. 10, 1 p.m. Sept 11 and 2 p.m. Sept. 12 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
To learn more about CSCOE and Peace of Mind 2.0, visit CSCOE-mn.org.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who discusses the local impact of Pope Francis’ recent letter on the “extraordinary form” of the liturgy, and Fe Mahler, board chair of Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities, and retired priest Father Kevin Clinton, who describe services for those facing crisis pregnancies and healing for those affected by abortion.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
Recent Comments