Blaine County Students and School Staff Explore Youth Well-being Data

Recently, C4Y Blaine County provided students and school district staff with the opportunity to explore data from the Youth Well-being Surveys collected last fall. 

Rather than simply reviewing the data, students explored survey results through interactive activities, classroom discussions, and data walks. During the data walks, students were split into small groups and rotated through different posters or slides highlighting the top risk and protective factors impacting youth mental health and well-being in Blaine County, including social isolation, stress, access to trusted adults, and self-awareness. This strategy helped students better understand the data while giving them an opportunity to ask questions and share their thoughts and insights. 

C4Y staff member shares survey insights with Blaine County students

School district staff members also participated in a data walk focused on the role schools play in youth well-being. Using survey insights, they identified barriers to action and began developing strategies to address areas where students need more support. 

Communities for Youth Blaine County works hard to ensure that all sorts of partners and stakeholders have many opportunities to review, understand, and provide additional context for the youth survey data collected in our community.

Engaging with school leaders and staff is vital to ensuring that our schools can take action to improve student well-being, while engaging directly with youth students allows them to further share their perspectives with trusted adults, community members, and decision-makers. All of these pieces are important and a big part of Communities for Youth’s evidence-informed approach, because when communities understand what young people need to thrive, they are better prepared to take data-driven actions to improve youth well-being.

If you would like to get involved with the current work of the Communities for Youth Blaine County Initiative, please reach out to Community Leads, Kirstin Emerson at kirstin@togetherwe5b.org or Sara Seppa at seppas@slhs.org.

For more information about C4Y Blaine County, visit our main page or sign up for our newsletter.