Dear Acknowledge Alliance family,
It is hard to believe that we are already two months into the start of a new fiscal year for Acknowledge Alliance! I am so proud of all that we have accomplished together since my last update in January.
All year long, we have been celebrating Acknowledge Alliance’s 30th anniversary of providing vital mental health services and resilience support to local schools and community organizations. Last year, we reached 2,150 youth and educators across 28 schools and institutions. Our youth engaged in 7,357 hours of counseling with our therapists, who spent an average of 14% more time supporting each student this year. The benefits from this increased treatment were clear - students reported significant decreases in depression, less anxiety, greater capacity for dealing with stress and grief, and improved ability for expressing their emotions constructively. Our Resilience Consultants provided 2,435 consultations and coaching sessions to 412 educators and other staff on campuses, promoting professional resilience tailored to meet individual needs. This work is making a real difference in our schools. As one teacher said, “seeing our resilience counselor brightens up my day. I feel more positive and optimistic about my interactions with students and classrooms after having been heard and listened to by my Acknowledge Alliance counselor.” And this teacher is not the only one that feels this way - 84% of educators we served said they felt increased empathy and understanding of the lives of their students.
On May 23, the Acknowledge Alliance family gathered at our 30th anniversary Forget-Me-Not event to learn about nurturing resilience in young people, and to honor our outstanding educators and community leaders. The evening was filled with so much passion, joy and gratitude. Whether it was one of our therapists sharing a touching story of how counseling changed the trajectory of a teenager’s life, or the incredible educators from Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School expressing how deeply they care about ensuring their students feel seen each day, I was humbled and inspired by each person we heard from at Forget-Me-Not.
Behind the scenes, we continued to build our organizational culture and priorities around diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ). In April and May, I held our semi-annual fireside chats with our teams. These meetings have yielded fruitful one-on-one conversations with staff, and I am continuing to learn and grow from them. In one memorable meeting, the team gave me the opportunity to lead a grounding and breathing practice, which was such a treat and allowed me to connect with them on a different level. In May, all staff attended the second of our “Equity in Action” DEIJ workshops entitled “Designing a Positive and Inclusive Workplace Culture”. Our Inclusion Task Force also piloted its first Breakfast Club session, a follow-up conversation to help integrate and carry forward what we learned from each other in the DEIJ workshop.
In late May, I was honored to visit San Miguel Elementary School in Sunnyvale to accept a generous gift of support from a professional, international organization for women educators, named Delta Kappa Gamma. The group includes current and retired educators from Redwood City down to South San Jose. Sunnyvale School District Teacher Colleen Lynch-Espinoza, who is the current president of this chapter, helped select the three organizations to receive a portion of their raffle basket proceeds, and we are so grateful that Colleen suggested Acknowledge Alliance. In Colleen’s words: “The team was thrilled to hear about your organization's important and impactful work and was eager to donate and learn more.” It was wonderful to receive a tour of the campus, visit our counseling room which is beautifully decorated with student art, and hear first-hand how our team is making such a difference.
I am proud that our Resilience Consultation Program was recently featured in Stanford Children’s Health’s 2023 Community Benefit Report and was 1 of only 11 youth mental health programs funded by the El Camino Healthcare District (as highlighted in ECHD’s press release). As our Development Director Ryan Magcuyao shared in both pieces, RCP directly supports the mental health of educators, so they have “less burnout, better classrooms, and can better meet their students’ needs”.
I am very thrilled to let you all know that we are exploring expanding our consultation work, and partnering with PreK and Early Childhood Educators. In the words of one of our long-time supporters; “early education teachers need to be prepared and supported, since ‘life’ seems to be affecting even our younger students.”
I look forward to the 2024-2025 year ahead as we continue creating school communities where all students and teachers can thrive. Our commitment to pushing the boundaries in school-based mental health care, and teacher support and retention, through the power of integrity, inclusion, relationships, and collaboration remains steadfast. Thank you for joining us in this work and transforming lives with us, one classroom at a time.
With gratitude,
Sharon Navarro
Executive Director
P.S. The summer is a great time to take advantage of the longer days by practicing self-care. What are some of your favorite summer self-care activities? I would love to hear from you, so please let me know!