we can all be there

Gain a deep understanding of Be There’s 5 Golden rules – a simple but actionable framework on how to recognize when someone might be struggling with their mental health
Gain confidence in their role in supporting a person struggling with their mental health and how to connect them to the help they deserve

With so many students in a school building, sometimes support from counselors or other mental health staff can be difficult to obtain. The Be There Certificate offers an accessible way to equip students with mental health literacy skills to encourage peer-to-peer support and increase social connection amongst them.

Entire school
A selected group of students
Specific grade levels

School Mental Health Team (counselors, social workers, psychologists etc)
Principal or Administrative Staff

- Once you receive permission from the necessary school staff, work together to create a timeline for certificate completion.
  - Need support drafting a proposal letter? Reach out to [email protected]
- OMM recommends utilizing multiple periods to encourage certificate completion by using the following timeline:
  - Session 1 – Onboarding and Golden Rule #1: Say What You See
  - Session 2 – Golden Rule #2: Show You Care and Golden Rule #3: Hear Them Out
  - Session 3 – Golden Rule #4: Know Your Rule and Golden Rule #5: Connect to Help
  - Session 4 – Be There For Yourself and Our Minds Matter’s Be There Discussion Activity
- Next, work with your club sponsor and/or administration to identify when and where students will be able to take the certificate. Some options include:
  - Designated classrooms during lunch
  - A school computer lab or library
  - During a homeroom, wellness or advisory period

TIP: If sessions are taking place outside of class time, make sure participating students have hall passes or excuse letters. Need support drafting an excuse letter? Reach out to [email protected]

- On the first day of your campaign, encourage all facilitators to read the following disclaimer about the Be There Certificate:
  - This is not an instruction manual – Being there for someone is an art, not a science. There’s no magic formula or step-by-step instruction manual because every situation involving someone’s mental health is different. If you’re concerned someone’s mental distress is more than the regular ups-and-downs of life, you can use Be There’s 5 Golden Rules to check in with them and talk about what’s going on. You can think of the 5 Golden Rules as a guide to understanding how to best support someone, no matter what the circumstances are.
  - This is not a Peer Support Certification – Be There is for everyone. While Peer Support programs train folks to support someone experiencing a struggle or mental illness similar to their own experience, Be There’s 5 Golden Rules can help you support anyone – whether a friend or classmate, family member or someone else in your community you care about.
  - This is not Crisis Intervention Training – We all struggle with our mental health from time to time – and that’s where Be There’s 5 Golden Rules can help – but if someone is at risk of harming themselves or others, that is a crisis and is beyond the scope of Be There. If someone is in crisis please call a helpline, 9-1-1, or emergency services or go to your nearest emergency department for assistance. Helpline resources can be found HERE (feel free to print off this page).
- Before getting started, facilitators should administer the Pre-Assessment then collect them once students have completed it.
- Facilitators should then spend some time supporting students as they create an account on the Be There website. If the technology is available, facilitators should model account creation and navigation of the website via screen projection/sharing.
- Once students have created an account, they can begin the first session. Remind students that the certificate itself is not timed and even if they don’t finish, they can save their progress for later.
- Once the last badge is completed during the last session, facilitators should administer the Post-Assessment then collect them once students have completed it.

TIP: To accommodate different learning styles and speeds, it may be worth it to hold one or two extra sessions for students who maybe weren’t able to complete the certificate during the time given.

Remember: there is no rush in completing the Be There Certificate. Encourage students to take their time and truly immerse themselves in the material.

Facilitators should wrap-up the campaign by following the Be There Discussion Guide to not only check for understanding but encourage students to share their experience taking the certificate.
Once your campaign is completed, make sure to collect all pre/post assessments and share them with the necessary staff.
Last and certainly not least, celebrate yourselves! Consider printing completed certificates and encouraging students to take pictures. You could put the pictures or certificates themselves on a bulletin board somewhere in school (:

- If your school decides to keep the campaign open to all, consider having sign-up sheets in designated areas (perhaps where students will be able to complete the certificate) or even in the school’s counseling office,
  - To promote your campaign more widely, consider spreading the word via morning announcements, your school’s social media pages or by sharing at the start or end of your classes
- Friendly competition is welcome – see which class/grade can get the highest level of completion! Some cool incentives or prizes could include swag from your school store or even a pizza party!
- Leading up to your campaign, encourage club members and student leaders to print off their own completed certificates and post them around school to provide some inspiration!
TIP: Make sure to get necessary approvals before hanging up things around school

Getting administrative approval in itself is a huge success!
While the Be There Certificate does include its own pre/post assessment, it is not possible at this time to publicly access this data. We encourage administering your own assessment to track metrics or completion rates.
Instead of setting a huge goal for completion, consider setting smaller milestones per grade (e.g. 40 freshman, 25 seniors, etc.)
- When setting completion goals, keep in mind the tactic of your campaign – the number of certificates completed during a non-optional instruction period may garner different results than certificates completed during an optional lunch hour.

What did your club learn from this campaign?
What went well? What didn’t go so well?
How can you continue encouraging your peers to get Be There certified?
What has been the impact of Be There completion in terms of school culture?

- The Be There Certificate features 6 interactive lessons and students earn badges for completing each one. While the entire certificate can be completed in under 2 hours, participants are able to save their progress and return mid-lesson. Each lesson includes a brief literature piece, a short video clip, and a knowledge check and can be completed in 20 minutes or less.*
  - Completing the standard lesson without viewing extra content yields a completion time of about 92 mins, while watching all additional videos yields a completion time of 106 mins, not including the time needed to onboard and create an account.
The Be There certification is offered in French, English and Spanish. You can complete the certificate in one or more languages, but you cannot switch between languages midway through.
This is not a campaign that can happen overnight – it requires complicated components, such as logistical planning and administration approval. Remember to practice patience and celebrate each milestone!
- Remember that even if your campaign doesn’t get approved, your club can still encourage other members of the student body to get Be There certified
If your administration teams needs more information, feel free to reach out to [email protected]

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concern

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community

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uplift

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