“We shall be more careful when speaking about young people’s mental health crisis and not limit the debate on mental health to intervention activities,” Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of National Education Paulina Piechna-Więckiewicz said at the conference opening the new round of School with Class that is carried out under the “Fostering Resilience in Children and Youth” program of PAFF.
The “Care for Students, Care for Yourself. From Theory to Practice in Building Resilience at School” conference opening the new round of School with Class program was held in Warsaw on October 7, 2024. For the first time, the new round is run under the new “Fostering Resilience in Children and Youth” program of PAFF carried out in cooperation with the School with Class Foundation and the Education for Democracy Foundation. The meeting was attended by over 100 teachers.
The participants discussed such issues as students’ mental health and activities necessary to support young people’s development. They agreed that building young people’s mental resilience is critical and requires implementation of long-term strategies supporting both students and teachers.
In her address, Paulina Piechna-Więckiewicz emphasized especially the preventive actions, while Marianna Hajdukiewicz in her welcome address described the School with Class program as the initiative that has accompanied schools for 20 years and responded to current needs of students and teachers. “It offers support where it is most needed and therefore, we are convinced that it will support effectively mental resilience of the youngest as well,” the PAFF Program Director said.
The group of lecturers included Alicja Pacewicz, the initiator of School with Class action and the Chairperson of the Board of School with Class Foundation; Prof. Jacek Pyżalski of Adam Mickiewicz University; psychologist and lecturer at SWPS University Dr. Magdalena Śniegulska; director of No 49 Elementary School in Gdańsk Marta Badowska; and Tomasz Kuźmicz, psychologist, lecturer at SWPS University and at PAFF and UW School of Education.
“We want to help teachers turn ideas into concrete actions and offer support in performing them. Today’s meeting was aimed at establishing contacts and building the support network. We shall take care of ourselves because without mutual support we will not be able to help our students effectively,” President of the School with Class Foundation Agata Łuczyńska explained.
The School with Class initiative is implemented by the School with Class Foundation under the “Fostering Resilience in Children and Youth” program of Polish-American Freedom Foundation, in cooperation with the Education for Democracy Foundation. That program, launched in 2024, serves enhancing children’s and young people’s mental resilience. Its objective is to develop competence of teachers and educators who more and more often have to face depressed mood, low motivation, loneliness, and low self-esteem in their students.
