A new mental and behavioral health class is being offered. This class will be offered for all grade levels, be taught by Alyssa Penn and is officially named foundations of mental and behavioral health.
“Despite the name, this class will focus on interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships as well as careers related to human service fields,” said Penn.
This class will highlight our interactions with other people and how to manage relationships. Mostly talking about healthy and unhealthy relationships and general life management.
“Of course there is more but this class centers around all things relationships; family, friends, and community,” said Penn.
When enrolling in a new class, most want to know how much work they’ll have to do and what they’ll have to do. This includes how the class will be conducted and learning styles.
“I want kids to practice communication skills, practice coping strategies and demonstrate their knowledge when it comes to healthy vs unhealthy relationships by connecting to real world experiences,” said Penn. “This is a class where answering test questions on the related topics is good but being able to apply the skills is most important.”
Penn has also already thought of some learning targets for this new class. Most revolve around communicating and working together.
“I would say my own goals and some learning targets would be for students to understand the difference between stable and unstable relationships and how to connect with others from all standpoints – as peers, as coworkers, networking, as family members and as partners to bring our community together in the best way we can,” said Penn. “It’s important to be able to collaborate with others, have productive relationships and work with people we may not always align with characteristically.”
This class is also a great opportunity to hone one’s skills in a specific category. It is also very useful for going into a specific career path.
“A few examples could be a counselors or therapists, social workers, case managers, behavioral management positions, or psychiatric care positions,” said Penn.
High school can be challenging, especially when dealing with so many relationships. Some may not know how to properly communicate and this class could potentially be very helpful for those who struggle.
“High school is hard and balancing everything – especially relationships with so many different people is something not always taught,” said Penn. “Being able to communicate and work well with others is something important – especially for the future.”
Overall, this class is a very good opportunity for those planning on a career in any type of communication. Even if one isn’t going into this type of career path, it is still very helpful for learning healthy communication skills. Penn is especially excited to teach this class and help the students learn more about communicating.
“Being able to teach students life lessons every single day is the best part of my job and these classes are perfect for that,” said Penn.
