Clarke County School District Mental Wellness Specialists Allyn Carey (left) and Fran Thompson (right) stand in the CCSD District Offices located at 595 Prince Ave. on April 24. The Mental Wellness Specialists position was grant-funded during the COVID-19 pandemic and was only officially added to the general budget at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. “(The) Clarke County School District is invested in mental health and wellness. So, (it) feels really positive that this was a position pulled into the general fund. Our superintendent and our directors, they care about the mental wellness of our students and staff, and we are trying to be that support system,” Thompson said. Photo by Liza Larson
The Clarke County School District is holding a Mental Health Town Hall at Clarke Middle School on April 28 at 5:30 p.m..
In an effort to bring awareness to mental health resources, the Clarke County School District is holding a town hall in the Clarke Middle School cafeteria on April 28 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
The event was planned by CCSD Mental Wellness Specialists Fran Thompson and Allyn Carey. It will feature a panel of specialists and will be moderated by CCSD Executive Director of Student and Family Support Tessa Barbazon.
The panel is composed of University of Georgia Associate Professor of Educational Psychology Dr. Sycarah Fisher, Cedar Shoals High School Mental Health Counselor Kizzy Wingfield and CCSD Director of Social Work Chrystal Gillis, who will answer both prepared and audience questions.
“It’s open to anybody. It’s open to CCSD, students, caregivers, parents, families, community members (and) CCSD staff. We (would) love anybody to come because we really want to kick off the fact that May is Mental Health Awareness (Month),” Thompson said.
“We want mental health to be something that’s normalized, something that people feel comfortable talking about,”
— Fran Thompson,
CCSD Mental Wellness Specialists
The event is also taking place at Hilsman Middle School on April 29 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. to make it accessible across Athens.
“I think that Athens is small enough that sometimes we can have events in just one location, but we really want this to be a whole community discussion,” Carey said. “So, figuring out two dates and two locations that would represent both the East side and the West side so that we can have families that feel like they can comfortably get to one or the other of our events.”
The town hall aims to not only spread resources, but to provide a forum to discuss mental health. The CCSD hopes to make these events annual throughout the future school year to further destigmatize mental health for students, staff and families.
“We want mental health to be something that’s normalized, something that people feel comfortable talking about,” Thompson said.
