IN-PERSON: Learning. Life. Work
Abstract
According to a 2022 Gallop poll, 44% of K-12 workers have reported feeling burnout very often or always. Teachers rank significantly higher than other professions (government, retail, manufacturing, technology, community, health, social service and finance) when reporting stress (Gallop, 2022). The stress teachers experience often causes a negative cycle as stress can damage teachers’ well-being, job satisfaction, and professional longevity. Consequently, absenteeism, attrition and decreased quality of teaching and relationships with students occur. High levels of repeated stress to teachers can lead to impaired quality of teaching and relationships needed to enhance students’ personal and academic success (Herman et al., 2021; Hood, 2018; Stone, 2021). Managing stressors in schools requires a multi-faceted approach including families, schools, health care providers, and policy-makers to support resources facilitating coping and mental wellness. Recently, Wilkes University changed their structure, enabling educators and health care workers to collaborate more easily. The University’s new College of Health and Education is taking steps to partner with local school districts to address unprecedented numbers of social and emotional issues of students and teachers. This research explains what the University has done thus far to address issues in K-12 and the trajectory they plan to follow to combine expertise from the fields of education and health care with information from today’s K-12 school practitioners to address real issues in school districts. The research and data garnered could have a positive impact on the entire community by serving as a model that can be reproduced in other school districts.
Dr. Vicki Jones is an assistant professor at Wilkes University. In addition to her work regarding literacy initiatives, her research agenda includes helping teachers and students address social and emotional well-being in practical ways that can be incorporated into curriculum. She has written and published articles regarding the importance of resilience in education and presented at local, state and national conferences.
Before joining the Wilkes faculty, Vicki worked in both Virginia and Pennsylvania as a public school teacher, reading specialist, building and central office administrator.
Dr. Todd Hastings is a nurse educator with a specialty focus in mental health. He earned his masters as a Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Specialist at Wilkes University in 2002. He assumed an educator role in academia starting in 2005 and has performed in nursing education for 18 years, having also received his PhD in Nursing Education in 2015. Dr. Hastings is engaged in teaching, service, and scholarship roles around mental health awareness, suicide prevention, and mental health stigma.
Dr. Andrea Mantione is an Assistant Professor of Nursing in the Passan School of Nursing and teaches Population Health and Physical Assessment. Dr. Mantione spent most of her RN career working in the acute care hospital setting followed by 24 years of practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Mantione continues to work with community organizations dedicated to improving health outcomes through health care prevention initiatives, education and advocacy.
Dr. Dana Manning is an associate professor of Pharmacy Practice and has been with Wilkes University since 2008. Prior to becoming a pharmacist, she completed her nutrition education at Cornell University and her dietetic internship at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. Dr. Manning has been a clinical registered dietitian since 2001 and maintains a practice in outpatient nutrition counseling at the Volunteers in Medicine clinic in WB. Her teaching and research interests include promotion of wellness for students and patients.
Michele Garrison is the Assistant Dean, of Operations within the Wilkes University College of Health and Education
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Tuesday 11th June, 2024