MTSU Mondays: $14M school counselor project, criminal justice trains high school teachers

Courtesy MTSU
·3 min read

Here's the latest news from Middle Tennessee State University.

School counseling $14M grant to serve rural communities

The Tennessee Department of Education recently brought on Tiffany Wilson, professional school counseling coordinator for the College of Education, as the school counseling consultant for its just under $14 million grant project to retain and recruit mental health professionals into high-needs, rural school districts across the state.

“I'm a product of rural education, so to be able to give back to the rural communities is a full circle moment,” Wilson said. “Typically, rural communities have limited access to mental health resources. This grant will help mitigate barriers by providing additional mental health access and resources.”

The Rural Access to Interventions in School Environments project, more commonly known as Project RAISE, will use the federally provided funds over five years to increase school-based mental health personnel in 40 Tennessee school districts, identified as rural and underserved, by recruiting future school counselors, school psychologists and school social workers into its internship program.

Interns make a two-year commitment to work in one of these rural districts in exchange for an up to $40,000 stipend, and the first cohort of about 25 interns will start this fall.

April Ebbinger, director of psychological and behavioral supports for the state, landed the grant and recruited Wilson after the two women met while working on other initiatives, and Ebbinger was impressed by Wilson’s level of expertise and brilliance, she said.

The College of Education also served as host, free of charge, for the project’s summer meeting on July 20, which featured a full day of presentations, activities, refreshments, prize drawings and more to get candidates ready for the start of their program.

Wilson said this project is so important because the shortage of mental health professionals in schools across the state grew even more severe during the pandemic.

Ebbinger recommended those interested in being part of Project RAISE’s internship program visit their website.

Criminal Justice program hosts workshop for high school teachers

The Department of Criminal Justice Administration partnered with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Murfreesboro Police Department and noted university forensic science instructors for the inaugural Criminal Justice High School Educators Professional Development Workshop.

Middle Tennessee State University Department of Criminal Justice Administration provided than 30 teachers from across Tennessee hands-on experience at the inaugural Criminal Justice High School Educators Workshop held in early July. Real-world professionals served as instructors for the two-day workshop.
Middle Tennessee State University Department of Criminal Justice Administration provided than 30 teachers from across Tennessee hands-on experience at the inaugural Criminal Justice High School Educators Workshop held in early July. Real-world professionals served as instructors for the two-day workshop.

The two-day workshop in early July provided hands-on training with criminal justice and forensic science professionals for 31 educators representing 14 counties and 25 high schools from across the state.

Criminal Justice Administration associate professor Elizabeth Wright developed the workshop after seeing a need for professional development for criminal justice teachers, who are part of the state’s career and technical education programs.

“There really isn’t anything for professional development for these teachers except for pedagogy. So I thought, ‘Let’s reach out and see if we can help them,’” said Wright, who specializes in victimology and victim advocacy. “Things are changing in the (criminal justice) field all the time.”

MTSU Criminal Justice Administration associate professor Elizabeth Q. Wright developed the Criminal Justice High School Educators Professional Development Workshop after seeing a need for professional development for criminal justice teachers, who are part of the state’s career and technical education programs.
MTSU Criminal Justice Administration associate professor Elizabeth Q. Wright developed the Criminal Justice High School Educators Professional Development Workshop after seeing a need for professional development for criminal justice teachers, who are part of the state’s career and technical education programs.

Career and technical education programs in criminal justice get high school students ready for the next level, whether they plan on going into law enforcement, forensics or law school. So Wright assembled experts in the fields of crime scene investigation, criminal law and forensic science who worked in conjunction with faculty to present course material.

Interactive training was designed to help educators take that knowledge and apply in the classroom setting.

MTSU Mondays content is provided by submissions from MTSU News and Media Relations.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: MTSU Mondays: $14M counselor project, criminal justice trains teachers