CARTHAGE, Ill. (WGEM) – May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, and this year at Illini West High School, students had a resource like never before. Near the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the district announced the hiring of a full-time social worker, which replaced the mental health counselors that worked at the school two hours per day and were paid for by grant funding.
Tri-State native Keela Nichols began her job as the school’s social worker in August. She said she sees roughly 40 students regularly, most of which are IEP’s, or students who have Individual Educational Programs.
“There are some screenings that occur, and assessments that occur in high school for students that have not yet been eligible for special education services, so we’ve been kind of fine tuning that this year,” Nichols said.
Nichols is currently in the process of working towards her Professional Educator’s License (PEL) with online classes through Southern Illinois University, which is being paid for in-part by a School Based Mental Health Services Project stipend.
She is currently working under a short term approval license, which require her to have a supervisor who already has a PEL.
“That kind of opens the door for Illini West or other school districts to build their support system whether it’s through the use of interns or hiring additional support staff as well,” Nichols said.
One student that sees Nichols regularly is freshman Bryson Cruz, who has an IEP and requires that he sees Nichols 60 minutes per month. However, Cruz sees her every day and has benefited. Cruz said he sees Nichols to help with any social anxiety and social frustrations that occur.
“Just yesterday I came and knocked on her door and she was available and so we kind of chit chatted it out and everything,” Cruz said.
Teachers can make referrals for students as well. Nichols said she gets up to five referrals a quarter, usually.
Nichols sees roughly 1 in every 10 Illini West students and is focused on building relationships and connections. During the 2023-2024 school year, she talked with school administrators about bringing a new screening tool to Illini West that could help identify more students who need help.
Accessible on laptops, Nichols said starting in the fall that all Illini West students will partake in a screener three times next school year. There’s different sections of the screener, such as reading, math and social-emotional learning.
“I can identify the higher need students and hopefully we can then align them with services whether it’s in the community or here at Illini West,” she said.
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