Every year AUSD teaches all 10th graders Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA). This is a 3 day course that instructs teens on how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among friends and peers.
Four years ago (coming out of the pandemic) AUSD had six staff trained in delivering tMHFA, but in 2025 the District only had three trained staff. Jody McCarthy, AUSD Coordinator for Student Support Services, applied for an AEF Teacher Mini Grant to be able to train two additional staff members to assist with training the 750 sophomores in the District.
Upon receiving the grant funding, Jodi McCarthy wrote: "Over the past 4 years, we had several students come to us grateful for the training in Teen Mental Health First Aid. It empowered them to talk about mental health with friends, and help refer their friends to a trusted adult who could intervene and provide needed assistance. Teens talk to teens - we know this. Giving them tools to reach out to someone when they or their friend is in crisis is invaluable. By training roughly 750 sophomores every year we have been able to reach a total of about 3,000 students with mental health support.
Again – and I cannot express enough gratitude – THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping to support out youth’s mental health. Every single person at AEF is a hero!"
Watch a short video with Jodi McCarthy explaining the Teen Mental Health 1st Aid program below:
