Students reach out to counselors for mental health support

Jiya Surywanshi

According to Dr. Stephanie Mueller, health screenings across Texas have gone up 184 percent while locally student hospitalizations have gone up 241 percent. Mueller understands that this dramatic shift in wellness level due to COVID-19 has left many across the district feeling isolated and helpless.

Similarly to others around the globe, the school’s lead counselor, Dr. Stefanie Mueller, believes that this period in time has made a great impact on those living through it. 

“Like students across the state and nation, we know that students have been greatly impacted by school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mueller said via email.  “Students at LHS have experienced this like their peers across the world.  When we consider how students have been impacted, we can know from experts in the field that the effects have been broad but consistent.  At a very basic level for wellness students thrive when they feel capable, cared for, and connected.”

According to Mueller, health screenings across Texas have gone up 184 percent while local student hospitalizations have gone up 241 percent.

Mueller understands that this dramatic shift in wellness level due to COVID-19 has left many across the district feeling isolated and helpless.

“Experts state that school closures have the most impact on young people because the closures disrupt the routine, fragment human connection, and cause varying degrees of isolation,” Mueller said via email.  “For students at LHS, the closure changed the routine of the school day which ranged from class times to how to get support.  Means of communication and familiar problem-solving strategies were disrupted overnight with the onset of school closures and shelter-in-place protocols.”

Spanish Teacher Patricia Flores feels her responsibilities as a teacher have increased during this time of isolation and says she has been working hard to develop students’ social and emotional learning.

“I would say yes because I am teaching virtually to five different Frisco ISD schools and the number of students in synchronous learning via virtual zoom meetings increased to up to forty-five and fifty-five in one class,” Flores said via email. “On the other hand, I wrote the online curriculum for Spanish 2 over the Summer for the asynchronous part of the learning experience, and I have integrated many online tools and apps in Canvas Courses which makes teaching more effective by engaging students in their learning experience. It is always good to be in contact with others. We, as teachers, are also planning for daily social and emotional learning of our students as part of our lesson to help in this regard.”

Myers hopes that the recent return to school will help not only her own but others state of mental health.

“For myself and others I know, going to school is the only opportunity we have to distract or distance ourselves from bad situations and increasing mental health issues,” Myers said via email. “Being stuck at home without access to resources or friends for such a long period of time is likely a contributing factor to the poor mental state of so many people. My hope is that once we’re able to go back to school and return to that coping mechanism of separating ourselves from negativity, we will see an improvement in mental health.”