ACM will teach local K-12 students skills that build resilience thanks to a Coordinated Community Support Partnership grant.
Allegany College of Maryland Receives $825K State Grant to Help 4,600 Allegany County Public School Students:
Meeting the Moment project offers skills to manage stress and build resilience
CUMBERLAND, Md. –June 11, 2024– Allegany College of Maryland has received an $825,000 Coordinated Community Supports Partnership Grant from the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission and the Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports. The grant funds ACM’s Meeting the Moment: Healing for Students, Hope for Our Community (Meeting the Moment) project to introduce self-care to 4,600 Allegany County Public School (ACPS) students by June 30, 2025. It’s the largest behavioral health grant in ACM’s history.
“The Consortium is thrilled to partner with Allegany College of Maryland to support the mental health and wellbeing of students and families,” said Consortium Chair David Rudolph. “We look forward to working with Allegany College of Maryland as they implement this grant.”
Funding for the grant was made available by the Maryland General Assembly under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future (Maryland Code Education, Chapter 26 of 2021).
Plans to reach ACPS students
ACM will teach simple self-care or mind-body skills in all 22 ACPS schools. Students in grades K-12 will learn universal skills developed and tested by The Center for Mind Body Medicine (The CMBM). These skills are proven to reduce the negative impacts of stress, improve self-regulation, and build personal resilience. They can be easily tailored to each student’s age, needs, wants, or goals.“I was in my fifties when I learned these simple skills and I immediately thought, ‘Why don’t we teach this in school and empower students?’” said Kathy Condor, ACM’s Meeting the Moment grant manager.
“ACPS Student Services staff is excited to partner with ACM to enhance access for students and families to mind-body medicine. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration,” said Sarah Welsh, Ed.D., the assistant supervisor of Student Services for Allegany County Public Schools.
ACPS students will learn mind-body skills during kickoff assemblies and classroom presentations and skills groups. In these smaller-sized skills groups, students can gain more skills to become self-aware, balanced, and connected. Students can choose a mind-body skills group that fits their schedule. Most groups will occur during the school day with one or two ACM facilitators and an ACPS staff member present. Other student groups will take place at SafeSpace Cumberland, on Zoom, or locations recommended by surveyed students. At a minimum, ACM expects 434 students to take part in the multi-week skills groups.
After completing a skills group, students in grades 6-12 can become a skills ambassador
or join a mind-body club. Mind-body clubs are a place where individuals practice techniques
and learn to listen in an effective, compassionate way to themselves and others.
Adults who support students will have opportunities to learn mind-body skills at education
sessions and in eight-week skills groups. School nurses employed by the Allegany County
Department of Health will be invited to receive professional training in mind-body
medicine to help them support students, educators, and themselves.
All training will be led by The CMBM and ACM’s team of facilitators. ACM’s facilitators
are local individuals trained directly by The Center for Mind-Body Medicine. The CMBM
will provide them with grant-specific training this summer.
How the skills work
Everyone can learn simple techniques that calm our physical and psychological responses
to stress. When a stress response occurs within our bodies, adrenaline and a team
of hormones prompt the release of cortisol. If this happens often, we learn to react
from a place of intensity.
Self-care or mind-body skills teach awareness. We learn to calm our “flight or fight, or freeze” response. As we adapt self-care skills to our lives, we gain control of our physical selves, and our mental wellbeing improves. Students who practice these skills regularly learn to regulate (or manage) their emotions and actions. They find, depending on their age, that they can make beneficial changes in their lives and gain control of their circumstances.
Connect with ACM's Culture of Care
ACM first partnered with The Center for Mind Body Medicine in 1999. Since that time, thousands of ACM students and individuals within the region
have received mind-body skills education or taken part in a skills group. In 2020,
The Center for Mind Body Medicine trained more than 130 local individuals as skills-group
facilitators, including ACPS teachers, counselors, resource officers and 11 high school
students.
More information about ACM’s Culture of Care or the Meeting the Moment program is
available by calling 301-784-5526 or emailing Kathy Condor.
About the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission
The Meeting the Moment grant was funded by the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission (CHRC) established by Maryland General Assembly in 2005 to expand access to health
care in underserved communities. Since its inception, the CHRC has awarded 824 grants
totaling $238 million, supporting programs in every jurisdiction of the State. These
programs have collectively served more than 628,078 Marylanders.
About the Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports
The Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports (Consortium) was established
by the Maryland General Assembly as part of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future to
create a statewide framework to increase access to coordinated, non-stigmatized, comprehensive
behavioral health services. The Maryland Community Health Resources Commission is
the fiscal agent and provides staff support for the Consortium.
About Allegany County Public Schools
Allegany County, Maryland, is home to 14 public elementary schools, four public middle
schools, three public high schools, one technical school, and one alternative placement
program in 22 school buildings. Allegany County Public Schools are led by the Board of Education of Allegany County. More information is available
online at www.acpsmd.org.
About Allegany College of Maryland
Allegany College of Maryland is a small, learner-focused college offering 48 associate
degrees, 31 certificates, 10 letters of recognition, noncredit workforce development
programs, personal enrichment classes, and adult education and literacy services.
More than 3,100 credit and 7,000 noncredit students choose ACM each year.
