Coconino Community College District Governing Board Chair Patricia Garcia (left) and CCC President Colleen A. Smith, PhD, sign a proclamation dedicating the college to training employees in Mental Health First Aid. Courtesy photo.
FLAGSTAFF — Coconino Community College has joined Coconino County and the City of Flagstaff in proclaiming May 2019 as Mental Health Month in an effort to increase knowledge, empathy and action related to mental health and wellbeing.
During the May 15 CCC District Governing Board meeting in Flagstaff, the board members approved the proclamation, committing CCC to developing and implementing a strategy to train all CCC staff and faculty in Mental Health First Aid. Mental Health First Aid is a course designed to give people the “skills to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis,” according to the Mental Health First Aid website.
“The mental health and wellbeing of all our students and employees are vitally important for them to be successful in their educational paths, careers and life,” said CCC President Colleen A. Smith, PhD. “I’m honored our board members have committed the College to Mental Health First Aid training.”
CCC has partnered with the Coconino County Stronger As One coalition, a group of community leaders and organizations committed to the idea that mental health is essential to each person’s individual health and is central to how all county residents achieve their fullest health potential.
According to the 2017 Arizona High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, one in three Arizona teens reported feeling sad and hopeless. According to Coconino County records, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death in the county, and it was the leading cause of death among county residents between the ages of 5 and 24.
The coalition has a five-year goal of training 50,000 people in Mental Health First Aid across the five northern Arizona counties.
For more information about Mental Health First Aid, visit https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/
About Coconino Community College: CCC has served residents across 18,000 square miles of Coconino County since 1991. The College has the goal of improving the lives of our residents through workforce development and higher education.
CCC provides affordable tuition and more than 50 certificate programs and two-year associate degrees in academic and career fields. CCC also has programs that ease student transition to any of the three state universities, including the award-winning CCC2NAU.
CCC reaches out to the more rural portions of the County and Tribal Lands. Instructional sites offer classes through online, in-person and Zoom video conferencing classes to meet the needs of students in rural and remote areas. Nearly 20 percent of CCC’s students are Native American learners.