Schools in 15 southern Illinois counties can participate in a program to help students deal with stress outside the classroom.
The Consortium for Educational Change and the Partnership for Resilience received a 50-thousand dollar grant to support a program to limit the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACES.
The consortium's executive director Mary Jane Morris says many students in the area suffer from broken homes or other trauma.
"Whether it be physical or mental abuse. Anything that might be traumatizing to a student, even bullying. Anything that causes an impact on a student would be considered trauma."
She says schools can get assistance helping these students who can be distracted in the classroom.
"A student who has been traumatized, it's really difficult for them to think and concentrate. In a classroom, teachers like students to follow the rules, work on their homework and read. Sometimes it's really difficult if a student's been traumatized."
Morris says an initial meeting about the program Thursday night attracted ten school districts. She says the grant can support up to 15 school districts for a two-year period. The districts will be selected through an application process. The application deadline is April 20th.
To learn more about Resilient Southern Illinois and how school districts can participate in the effort, email Mary Jane Morris at maryjane.morris@ieanea.org or call 618-733-4472 extension 2005 or email Matt Buckman at mattbuckman@egyptian.org.
