Logos of National Life Group and Boston Children's Hospital Neighborhood Partnerships.

TEACHERTALK: STRENGTHENING EDUCATOR WELL-BEING

In this TeacherTalk, held in collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital Neighborhood Partnerships (BCHNP), we discussed the importance of teacher wellness and how teacher and student well-being are connected. We shared key information about student behavioral health as well as common stress reactions experienced by educators.

Our panelists also discussed practices that K-12 educators can use to nurture their own well-being, advocate for what they need in school, and model these strategies with students.

About BCHNP

BCHNP is a school-based behavioral health program in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Boston Children's Hospital. BCHNP partners with schools and districts to collaboratively create comprehensive behavioral health systems that promote the social, emotional, behavioral, and academic well-being of all students, families, staff, and school communities. The Training and Access Project, an initiative within BCHNP, provides professional development focused on building the capacity of school communities to address social, emotional, and behavioral health.

Meet Our Panelists

A woman with long black hair, smiling, wearing a beige sweater, standing against a white wall.

  • Training and Access Project Clinician
    Boston Children’s Hospital

    Andie holds Master’s degrees in Social Work and Special Education and has been in a social worker role for almost 20 years. Her career has focused on partnering with school communities to develop and integrate systems and supports to better meet the needs of students and families.

    During her time with Boston Children’s Hospital, she has worked in multiple schools in Boston, ranging from early childhood to high school, providing consultation and training to school staff and therapeutic services to students. She was an active member on many school teams advocating for culturally responsive behavioral health programming. She is a skilled trainer and has facilitated training for school audiences as well as at national conferences.

    Andie played a primary role in designing The Training Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital Neighborhood Partnerships’ (BCHNP) first training program for school audiences and worked with team members to adapt this program to expand BCHNP’s training efforts. As a Training & Access Project Clinician, she continues to be a lead contributor to BCHNP’s training initiatives for school communities. Her passion is writing, and she enjoys synthesizing research about complex issues related to school behavioral health and making this information accessible for schools and families.

A man with short brown hair, blue eyes, and a bright smile, wearing a dark blue collared shirt, standing against a gray background.

  • Training and Access Project Manager
    Boston Children’s Hospital

    Molly holds a Master's in Social Work with a specialization in family therapy from Boston University and has been a social worker in Boston for over 20 years. Her focus has always been community-based work with children and families. Molly has a wide range of experience, from being an in-home therapist for many years to coaching rowing for high school girls within Boston Public Schools.

    Molly began at BCHNP in 2008 as a school-based clinician at Young Achievers K-8 School in Mattapan, where she worked with students, families, and staff around mental health needs. She also provided teacher consultation and crisis intervention, and facilitated the student support team.

    Through her current position at TAP, she is the manager of a team of clinicians focused on providing professional development and consultation centered on social-emotional learning and behavioral health both within Boston Public Schools, as well as national initiatives. In her work, she is always looking to learn from the many perspectives and experiences of others and values collaboration and being a part of a team.

Building a Foundation for Social-Emotional Learning
and Behavioral Health in Schools

Check out this free series of short, impactful videos designed to help you support student wellness in the classroom. Each video is under 20 minutes and provides summaries of research-based information, practical tools, and engaging materials focused on core components of social-emotional learning and behavioral health.

The resources are designed to help you strengthen your school community’s capacity to support students and staff. We hope these videos help you foster a positive classroom and school environment.

This series was developed by Boston Children’s Hospital Neighborhood Partnerships (BCHNP).

Explore the Series