- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of Think Tank with Steve Adubato has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

NJ Best, New Jersey'’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Prudential Financial.

Summit Health a provider of primary, specialty, and urgent care.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

And by NJM Insurance Group.

Serving New Jersey'’s drivers, homeowners and business owners for more than 100 years.

Promotional support provided by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

And by New Jersey Monthly.

The magazine of the Garden State.

Available at newsstands.

[MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi folks, Steve Adubato here.

Listen, we do not do enough to acknowledge, to recognize, to honor our public school teachers, our educators.

This is part of our... actually the final part of our Teacher Appreciation Week, and we're honored to welcome a very distinguished panel.

Aquaus Kelley is a fifth grade math and science teacher in the New Brunswick School District.

Dr. Christine Ruth is a seventh and eighth grade special education teacher in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and co-founder of the Atlantic City Collaborative for Educational Equity.

And finally, Kayla Khaled, is a high school Spanish teacher in Union County.

I wanna thank all of for joining us on Teacher Appreciation Week.

Aquaus, let me ask you, you got into teaching because?

- I got into teaching because I felt it's a great avenue to promote social change, social justice, and prepare students for the future and prepare students for a better future, a bright future, and a just future.

- This is your third year of teaching?

- This is my fifth year.

- Fifth, I apologize.

Is this what you thought it would be?

- I learned how to fall in love with the challenge, Steve.

And what I mean by that is - (Steve laughs) Okay.

- My first two years were very challenging, very difficult, However- Then COVID hit.

- Then COVID hit, but believe it or not, due to COVID remote instruction, I was given time to work from home and really assess my strengths, and what I need to do to create systems that would allow me to provide students with the best support to move forward in their learning.

- Well said.

Let me ask you, Christine.

You got into teaching because?

- I've always been a born teacher.

So even as a little kid, teaching my younger sisters, so it's something I always wanted to do, and especially working with kids with special needs, just really feeling like I can make a difference.

- Talk more about that.

Why children with special needs?

- Well, part of it is my own personality that I just love coming to the classroom every day and knowing that I can't expect anything to be the same as it was the day before.

- It's not, is it?

- It never is, no.

So that sense of creativity, that spontaneity, you know, that really keeps me on my toes and it's interesting to me, so I've been doing this for a long time and still love it, but also the relationships.

So having a smaller group of students that I really get to know them and their families, and watch them progress academically, socially, you know, and as he human beings is really a gift for me.

- Well said.

Kayla, you did not think that I would not ask you the same question, right?

(Kayla laughs) When did you know that you wanted to teach?

- Wow, that's a really good question?

I think that I knew I wanted to teach when I went to college and had some amazing professors, and it opened up the idea that education can be so much more than what I was introduced to from K through 12, and being part of that was the goal.

- Let me ask you this though.

I'm gonna stay with you on this, Kayla.

COVID, again we're taping going into May, 2022.

This is again, part of our Teacher Appreciation Week.

To what extent is COVID, the reality of COVID, the challenges, the difficulties around COVID impacted your view of teaching and of education overall?

- I think COVID definitely changed how things were done, but it's all about evolution, right?

And as an educator, you just learn how to change and what needs to be done, and you do what needs to be done.

You are in this privileged space where you have students in front of you, and they're there for what you are ready to give them.

So yes, it is challenging, yes, it is difficult, but education and teaching always is.

- Always, and Aquaus, along these same lines.

You've offered, quote, or you told our producer Georget that you offer flexible timelines for students completing assignments.

Why do you do that and how does it work?

- Well, I feel it's important for us as educators to prioritize proficiency over pacing.

That's one of the tensions within education is okay, we have to teach students this, but within this time, right?

And I feel that it can work throughout the school year, meaning we have four marking periods, so although an assignment should be due at this date, it doesn't mean that students shouldn't have time to revise it and improve upon it, and that doesn't mean that I can't as an educator go back to the grade book, open it up and revise the grade, because that's where the true learning is is allowing students multiple attempts to refine and revise their learning.

- That's so interesting.

Yeah.

Dr. Ruth, let me ask you, and we're talking to your colleagues about adapting, pivoting, adjusting, and you could talk about that in the abstract, but then the reality of COVID makes it such a requirement.

Let me ask you, to what degree do you believe teaching and education overall has significantly changed forever because of COVID or am I overstating it?

- Mmh, I wish you were in some ways.

I think in some ways we've held to a lot of the traditional things that maybe we could let go, you know, speaking to what Aquaus mentioned, that kind of flexibility and meeting kids where they are instead of, you know having inflexible rules for how things should be at school.

I think that should be forever changed.

You know, the children are our focus and their needs are the focus rather than what the adults want.

- Hmm, along those same lines, to what degree do you believe, Christine students, and again, this is not across the board and I don't wanna be cavalier about this, but students have been traumatized, teachers have been traumatized, other people in other professions, but we're talking about kids right now, students.

In what ways do you believe, Dr. Ruth that students, not across the board, but many of them, and more so in certain communities, disproportionately black and brown, more challenged economically.

To what degree and what ways are they traumatized?

Have they been traumatized?

- Well, we were learning a lot about trauma before COVID hit and then once COVID got here, I think we continue to talk about the trauma that kids have endured from COVID itself, first of all, and many of my students have lost... You know, know someone that died from COVID or lost someone in their family, but then on top of that, we've been kind of ignoring this collective trauma of COVID and just moving forward.

You know, the state testing is happening and the curriculum is moving forward, and yet kids are struggling.

You know, I think there's the trauma of not being with their friends for two years, of not socializing, of not practicing things academically, of not knowing what was going to happen next.

So even for us as adults, that unknown was traumatizing to all of us, and I think we'd rather feel as if, oh, things are normal, let's just get back to normal, but we have to process it first.

- You know, along those lines, Kayla, I'm gonna follow up on something Christine said.

You know, we tape a whole range of shows during the day, and we built this home studio, and we're fortunate to be able to do that, not everyone is able to do what we're doing right now, but our daughter who happens to be in the sixth grade in public schools here in Montclair just happened to be home, and before she's running out to a softball game and she's playing.

And I went down and I saw her and I started talking to her, Olivia, tell me what you were doing in school today.

She goes, dad, I have to run.

I've got a softball game.

I gotta change.

And I realized that she's moving very quickly.

And then I tried to talk to her at the end of the day about what's going on as she's doing her homework.

And it's great seeing her engaged and involved, and active.

And trust me, there's a question here.

What could and should we as parents be doing?

Advice from educators to help our kids without getting them to relive every part of their day and micromanaging?

Please, on that, Kayla?

- Having those conversations with your children, making sure that they know that you're open and available, just giving them the opportunity to highlight what they wanna highlight, and maybe open up and have those conversations when they feel like having those conversations.

Just being there for them.

Allowing them to use you almost like a sounding board, or to just be present, that makes such a big difference.

And that, it may not feel like enough as a parent because I know.

- It doesn't.

- But- You know as a parent?

- As a parent.

It definitely doesn't feel like enough.

I feel like I wanna do more.

You know, I see what's going on and I wanna jump in, but they're doing so much better than I feel like I would've done in that scenario.

And they just need us to be there for them.

And that makes a big difference.

- Well said.

Aquaus, same question.

Advice for us from a teacher's, from an educator's perspective is so valuable for all parents watching right now, please.

- I mean, from an educator's perspective access to what our children, our students are learning is more available than we may think, right?

Meaning, as a public school educator, all of our curriculum and learning standards, that's what we call them, are available online at the New Jersey Department of Education website.

So if you wanna hop in as Kayla mentioned, hop in and help out some.

- So we as parents should be going on that website looking for what, Aquaus?

- So if I'm a father and I wanna help my, you mentioned you have a daughter in the sixth grade, correct?

- Yep.

- Sixth grade mathematics, New Jersey Department of Education, grade six learning standards.

You see everything that the teacher is required to teach.

- Along those lines, though.

- Yes.

- I could... (chuckles) I often... One of the dangers in asking your child, son, daughter, whomever, can I help you with your homework?

When she starts talking about math and science, I'm lost.

If it's social studies and history, I'm in the game.

Translation, should we actually be trying to help them by subject matter or only focusing... 'Cause I can't help in math.

I can do something in some other areas.

What's too much involvement, Aquaus and then Christine?

- Well, too much involvement I would say is telling our children, our students the answer, but we can develop- - Don't do that, right?

And don't write the essay for them.

- Yeah.

We can develop as family members, caretakers, we can develop a line of questioning to assist our children, our students with the process, and we can work alongside teachers in doing that.

I believe that is possible.

- Dr. Ruth, jump in.

- I think the greatest benefit of understanding the curriculum is knowing what's really happening in the classroom, and then being able to talk about it.

There's been a lot of misinformation lately about what is being taught in our classrooms.

You know, whether that's in health class or in other classes, but the curriculum is published for everyone to look at.

So it does give you a clear picture on exactly what the topics are that will be covered.

- Technology in and of itself impacts our ability to connect or not connect, and we're at the mercy, Aquaus of technology, particularly if you're in a hybrid or remote situation, and we will be back for those who think, oh, now we're in the classroom forever.

That's great, and let's count our blessings.

But as someone who's taught on the higher ed level and teaches seminars on leadership, some are remote, some are in person, some are in person with people remote and you're at the mercy of technology.

Aquaus, talk to us about that and how you have dealt with that.

- So be being at the mercy of technology as you mentioned, Steve, it's a reality that we just live with, that we have to learn to live with regardless of any industry.

Luckily, there are ways and means to get the devices that we need, whether it's through grants or through partnerships, and we have to find a way to stay connected, because when we're not, we do lose traction.

- The term teacher burnout is used a lot.

Christine, what advice would you have for your colleagues in education to fight teacher burnout and prepare to not burn out whatever the heck that means?

Please, Christine.

- Well, one of the things that's helped me is being able to talk about what's important to me in education and talking about equity and talking about the things that...

Sometimes talking about what's missing.

So being more of, I would even go as far to say to be an activist and to be someone who's promoting what we need in the classroom, rather than, you know, a lot of times what happens to teachers is that we take whatever comes our way and we don't often have a voice to speak up about it, and we've been really good at it.

So whatever's thrown our way, we accept it, we figure it out, we move on.

And I think sometimes that's been damaging that we're now at the point where we're all shouldering so many responsibilities.

And so being able to collectively, whether that's with our union or with our friends, or with the people we work with, even with our students, and even with our administrators because they're overloaded as well, to be able to speak up.

- Sorry for interrupting you, but I got a couple seconds left.

Kayla, real quick.

The reason you love...

I'm gonna finish on a high note.

The reason you still love what you do as a Spanish teacher in Union County is?

- Because there is no better job.

I mean, I get to be with students and people that are shaping the way they think and trying new things, and I get to meet the most amazing human beings in the world.

What a better job than that?

- I should take that and bottle it for commercial promoting education and teaching.

So Kayla, thank you.

Christine, thank you.

Aquaus, thank you.

I could not think of three better educators to celebrate and conclude, if you will, Teacher Appreciation Week.

We wish you and all of your colleagues in education the best.

Thanks, everyone.

Teacher Appreciation Week.

Stay with us.

To watch more Think Tank with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're honored to welcome Dr. Frank Ghinassi, who is Senior Vice President, of Behavioral Health and Addictions Service Line at RWJBarnabas Health, and President CEO of Rutgers Health University Behavioral Health Care.

Good to see you Dr. Ghinassi.

- Good to see you as well.

- The most significant stressors, pressures, of mental health issues, particularly for children as it relates to COVID, two plus years in, what would they be?

And why should we all be concerned?

- It's been an extraordinarily challenging time for young people, whether it's elementary school, middle school, high school, or college.

And I think the stressors have included isolation, social isolation, it's disrupted many of the traditions and rights of passage for many of these young people, many were denied their graduation experiences.

And as you know, socialization among young people is key, they're forming their identities, as they begin to separate from parents, and from the influence of home alone.

COVID has dramatically impacted that, my concern is there will be repercussions of this in the years to come.

- As we do this program, you're gonna see a couple of numbers up on your screen.

Because it's one thing to talk about mental health, behavioral health particularly among teens and children.

I mean all of us, but I mean as a parent of teens, and a very young child, she's our 11 year old daughter.

I will tell you that, I just can't imagine how difficult it's been for so many people.

I just see with our kids.

So there are a couple numbers on your screen, and Dr. Ghinassi, why do those numbers matter?

People pick up the phone and call, who's there to help, in what way?

it's the RWJBarnabas Health, PS, RWJBarnabas Health a long time underwriter of public broadcasting including the work we're doing.

Yes, that is the information, go ahead doctor.

- So we have trained peer specialists and trained evaluators there.

What they can expect when they call is, support, active listening, and an attempt to understand the nature of the call, and the problems being presented and then much more importantly, an opportunity for them to offer solutions.

These can be solutions in real time on the phone, or they can be solutions that connect those individuals with community resources, and supports.

That can include, issues that address the isolation, issues that address some of the social determinants of health, whether it's food insecurity, or whether it's housing instability, or whether it's systemic racism, or it can include up to and including treatment referrals, and connections with professionals who can help if those mental health issues move from distress, to disorder, or disease.

- Doctor there's clearly been an increase, and if I'm wrong, tell me, but the statistics I've looked at show there's been an increase in teen suicide, correct?

- There has, and you know, unfortunately this has been a trend that's been drifting up for almost two decades.

The last couple of years has seen a more concerning, and dramatic increase, you are correct.

- So for parents, worried, concerned, what should they be looking for in their teens for any sign that there's a problem that needs to be confronted and addressed directly, for the teen?

- The first thing we recommend for parents who are worried about this is, is change in what we think of as baseline behaviors.

Most parents know their child's rhythm, they are aware of their child's typical behavior patterns, whether it includes sleep, eating, socialization, verbalization, how they spend their time.

Our first recommendation is to look for changes in those baseline behaviors.

More of something, less of something, the key indicators that let you know that your child is not behaving the way they usually do.

- Move it to parents, and even older folks.

With older people, I noticed this, and I know my mom watches us on public broadcasting on a regular basis.

I worry about my mom's "isolation".

And so my sisters and I, and others who care very much about my mother, it's not about my mother it's about anyone, who happens to be older.

And we're concerned of the isolation.

How serious is that problem A and B, what should we be doing to be helpful?

- I share your concern, isolation with the elderly, especially if a spouse has passed away, or if the children have moved away, has always been a concern.

COVID has made that more- - Did COVID make it worse Doctor?

- COVID made it far worse, because for a long time, and you know, now that we're beginning to reemerge from social isolation or at least distancing completely.

Remember for a long time, that first year and a half, people weren't allowed to visit, and I think that really made it difficult.

And remember too, unlike your teenage kids, or even you and me, the use of social media, phones, and iPhones, and FaceTime, is something that many elderly are not as familiar with, so even that was taken away from them.

I do worry about it, and I also worry as with teens that has prevented us from seeing small behavior changes in our parents, and elderly patients, that could be indicators of declining health, or declining mental condition.

So that isolation is twofold, so the loneliness is one issue, and our lack of ability to monitor their ongoing health in a close and personal way.

- Last topic I wanna bring up.

Mental behavioral health issues with our nurses, physicians as well, but nurses closest, closest to this pandemic in terms of dealing with patients, their family members.

The word burnout doesn't even begin to describe the nurses I interact with and we've interviewed.

What do they need?

- This has been a fundamental challenge throughout this entire period.

They need respite, they need people who are able to listen to them.

They need the ability to be able to decompress.

They need a home environment, that'll allows for both support, and downtime.

And I think they need an opportunity to be heard.

We've recently set up a nurse to nurse line, where trained peer nurse specialists are able to take phone calls around the clock from other nurses they can be anonymous or in person.

Listening during a time like this, can be a very powerful tool, but I think that ability to be decompress and be able to turn off when they come home.

This has been a long siege and it's not over yet.

- And real quick before I let you go, connecting behavioral mental health issues with primary care 30 seconds or less, please.

- It's critical.

I think the future of sustained population health is to embed behavioral health in primary care, pediatric care, and obstetrics care.

So that the normal course of that primary care visit, we're able to attend to, screen, and address behavioral health issues.

The mind and the body are one entity.

- Yeah, Dr. Frank Ghinassi, I wanna thank you so much for joining us.

There are so many people watching right now, family members of those watching who are struggling or challenged.

And we need to talk about it, be more aware.

And frankly, find ways to be helpful, which is why we put those numbers up, and might even call them hotlines but they are important numbers.

Thank you doctor, we appreciate it.

- Thank you Steve, have a great morning.

- You too, as well.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The New Jersey Education Association.

NJ Best, New Jersey'’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Prudential Financial.

Summit Health The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

And by NJM Insurance Group.

Promotional support provided by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

And by New Jersey Monthly.