Mental health the focus in Peabody schools

Feb. 18—PEABODY — Superintendent of Schools Dr. Josh Vadala praised recent school presentations highlighting mental health and wellness awareness during a recent school committee meeting.

The Peabody Education Foundation helped put on two presentations at Veterans Memorial High School earlier this month that featured public speaker Dr. Adolph Brown and a show by Theatre Integrating Guidance, Education, and Responsibility (TIGER).

Brown first visited the district in August, when he spoke to teachers and received a standing ovation. After that event, Vadala learned that Brown also speaks to children, so he brought him back to talk to the high school students. Vadala said Brown's presentation was amazing.

"It was really well-received. He did a phenomenal job," said Vadala at the meeting on Feb. 7. "The kids went down afterwards, they opened up to him and his team, and he was taking pictures with them... Just a great experience for our students."

Vadala thanked Dr. Mark Higgins, assistant superintendent of people and personnel services for the district, for helping coordinate the presentation.

Higgins said that Brown's presentation was "really moving" and received "great, great feedback."

"I've never seen someone speak to high school students and dozens of kids line up afterwards to just shake the person's hand and take a picture with him," Higgins said. "They were glowing after talking to Dr. Brown."

Higgins also helped coordinate the TIGER performance, which will be brought to all eight elementary schools in the district as well.

TIGER is a professional theater company out of Plymouth State University that helps children, schools, parents, and communities deal positively with issues that children face.

Higgins said this presentation was great, as the students' faces lit up watching the college students perform.

"It's better than any celebrity we could bring," Higgins said. "The message is great — through character education 'choose kindness' — and it's college kids presenting to them, so it's a great, great program."

Vadala praised the TIGER program and the importance of their performance.

He said that as the program is both interactive and based in a background of psychology, it speaks to kids about their mental health and wellness, while touching on ways they can persevere and work through things they are dealing with.

"We're really trying to destigmatize the idea of reaching out for counseling and that it's OK to talk about mental health and it's OK to seek assistance," he added.

Both of these presentations were supported by funding by the Peabody Education Foundation (PEF).

"We have been very fortunate with the partnership we have with PEF," Vadala said.

Vadala thanked the generosity of the Peabody Education Foundation, the Lyon-Waugh auto group, North Shore Bank, the JB Thomas-Lahey Foundation, and the GraVoc Charitable Foundation for donating "considerable" amounts of money to the district's mental wellness initiative.

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