Belmont Wellness Coalition

Hello, we hope everyone had a restful and fun summer! As we embark on another school year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year and summarize all that BWC was able to accomplish, as well as to look forward to what is next for BWC.

Belmont Wellness Coalition (BWC) is a committed cross-section of Belmont parents, youth, school, town, and community representatives that work to promote healthy choices and positive decision-making among Belmont youth. BWC coordinates efforts to prevent and reduce youth substance misuse in Belmont through evidence-based education and prevention efforts. Coalition members meet monthly during the academic year.

BWC is a program of Wayside Youth & Family Support Network.

BWC Team Leaders: Wendy Conroy (Coalition Chair), Lisa Gibalerio (Program Coordinator), Sophia Suarez-Friedman (Program Assistant), and Nadia Foster (Grant Evaluator, EDC)

BWC offers workshops to the community on many topics relating to youth well-being. We especially focus on substance misuse and mental health awareness. This year, BWC hosted four presentations for the community.

1. Belmont Library Event - Navigating Difficult News Events. Lisa and Sophia provided guidance to parents on how to talk with kids about difficult news events.

2. Belmont Young Adult Library Mentor Match Event. Sophia presented to the Library's Mentor Match program's mentors on connecting with their mentees, recognizing signs of a mental health disorder, and providing support.
3. Presentation to High School Seniors and Parents - Social Host Liability Law and Substance Misuse. Lisa and Wendy presented to High School seniors and parents on the Social Host Liability law, how to talk to kids about substance, and how kids can avoid using substances. This event was mandatory for students to attend prom and graduation activities.
4. Belmont PTSO Event - Understanding Youth Mental Health; Guidance for Parents and Guardians. Lisa and Sophia led a training on mental health as a follow-up to the 2021 YRBS data. Topics included how parents can talk about mental health with their kids, recognizing signs of a mental health disorder, what to do in a crisis, and how to talk about suicide. Brittany King, Guidance Counselor at Belmont High School, shared what the crisis team at the High School does.

See materials from these presentations here.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national survey administered to Middle and High School students (grades 7-12) every two years. In Spring of 2021, 1,710 Belmont students responded to the survey. BWC analyzed and presented this data to the community, highlighting the important points relating to a need for additional mental health support.

BWC provided 5 YRBS presentations, to the School Committee, the Select Board, the High School PTSO, the Middle School PTO, and the Board of Health. The presentations can be viewed here.

In addition, Lisa filmed a Belmont Media Center segment on the YRBS Data Highlights and an article appeared in the Belmontonian: 1 in 5 Middle School Students Consider Self Harm, 9 Percent 7-12 ‘Made Suicide Plans’.

As a follow-up, BWC administered a survey to parents of Middle and High School students relating to their views on mental health and substance misuse and how they talk with their kids. Data from this survey can be viewed here.

Lisa films bi-monthly, prevention-centered video segments with Mike Crowley, BWC and Belmont Media Center member. Some highlights from this past year are:

• Easing the Mental Load of Parenting

• Marijuana Use Among Belmont Teens

• Older Teens and Substances
  

• Suicidal Ideation and Identification
  

• Gender Pronouns

All videos can be found here.

BWC's Parenting Group offers parents a safe and supportive place for discussions and mutual learning. The Parenting Group explores various topics important to parents of teens and tweens. Lisa and Sophia facilitate the group, and offer guidance and resources related to each month's topic. This year, parents in the group chose to focus on the following topics:

• Trust and Autonomy

• ADHD and Other Executive Functioning Challenges

• Substance Misuse

• Freedom and Limits

• Dating, Relationships, and Sex

• Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth - hosted with Belmont's LGBTQ+ Alliance
  

• Culture of Stress

See below for this coming year's Parenting Group meetings!

In addition to workshops and videos, BWC offers guidance to parents in the form of informational tip sheets. Here are the tip sheets created in the past year:

• Teen Alcohol and Other Drug Use

• The ABC's of Sex Gender and Gender Identity

• Guidance for Parents of Transgender and Nonbinary Kids

• Supporting a Teen in a Mental Health Crisis

• Mental Health 101- Typical Versus Concerning Teen Behavior

• What to Know About the Social Host Liability Law

• Suicide Prevention in Teens

• Safe Holiday Tips for Middle and High School Parents

• Sleep Tip Sheet

All tip sheets can be found here.

As mentioned previously, to follow up on the YRBS data, the BWC Leadership Team created and administered a survey to parents of Middle and High School students. The data (which can be viewed here) relates to teen substance misuse, mental health, and what parents do to address these issues. This data will be used to determine what workshops and activities BWC focuses on in the upcoming academic year.

This year's Parenting Group will begin on Wednesday, September 21st at 7pm on Zoom. We will do a back-to-school check-in and decide future topics. Following monthly meetings will be the last Wednesday of the month. Email Maeve_Kennelly@WaysideYouth.org to join!

BWC has worked with a group of High School students, the BWC Student Ambassadors, over the past two school years. This coming year, BWC intends to expand this program with support from the School Department. Student Ambassadors focus on supporting the mental health of their peers and learning substance misuse prevention strategies.

BWC is saying goodbye to Sophia Suarez-Friedman, who has supported BWC as a Program Assistant for the past two years. Sophia piloted the Student Ambassador program and, along with Lisa, began the Parenting Group. She brought the BWC to new levels regarding data collection and evaluation as well as updating the new website and social media accounts. Thank you Sophia, you will be missed!

And... we are excited to welcome Maeve Kennelly! Maeve will hit the ground running supporting BWC's existing programming, as well as working to expand and enrich the Student Ambassador program at Belmont High School. We're so excited to have Maeve join the BWC team; please join us in welcoming her!

Not already a part of BWC? See our website to learn more about the work we are engaged in. Reach out to Lisa Gibalerio if you are interested in joining Coalition Meetings, our monthly Parenting Group, or participating in any of our initiatives.

Thank you!

The BWC Leadership Team

Lisa

Sophia

Maeve

Wendy

Nadia

Email: lisa_gibalerio@waysideyouth.org
Website: https://belmontwellness.org/
Location: 127 North Beacon Street, Watertown, MA 02472, USA
Phone: (617) 284-2649
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/belmontwellnesscoalition