The Washoe County School District is honoring mental health professionals who provide crucial support to 60,000 students and their families.
It is all a part of National School Social Work Week, which is recognized from March 3rd to March 5th.Â
Paige Rath is a Social Worker at Wooster High School who says she found her calling when she started working with kids. She says every single say she comes in to work she learns something new.Â
"I think mental health is definitely one of the big things we do as school social workers," said Rath.
She says as a part of her job she goes into classrooms and talks about suicide prevention and mental health advocacy, while also working closely with school staff to further help students.
"I have a certain amount of students I see weekly, but a lot of it is that crisis response so that anxiety in classes, those mental health issues, are showing up at school and sometimes at home that are maybe preventing them from coming to school," said Rath.
Rath tells us she started social work because she felt it was her calling
"I fell in love with it," she said. "It's definitely not something I though I would do, but I love it."
Some of the struggles she says she runs into include navigating the decisions the students make, the good and the bad.
"The challenges are the ones that, there are things that I can't do," she said. "I cant change how a family dynamic is. I can't change the ideas that some families are ready to accept yet."
Rath says even saying hello to a student is a small way she lets them know she provides a safe space for them to talk.
"I have had a couple kids where it's like 'oh you've tugged on my heart string' and it's," she pauses for a moment. "There was one that had told me that she was thankful that I let her tell her story."
Rath also says the more mental health professionals we have in the school system, the more they can help in kids' lives.
"I think I do make a difference," she said. "I think social workers in schools make a huge difference. Kids sometimes can't talk to their parents. They need someone to talk to and if we can be that one person, if one child's life is saved from that, it's worth it."
