On Monday, February 10th, all the Buffalo County 8th grade students from Alma, Cochrane-Fountain City, Gilmanton and Mondovi School Districts will be attending a half-day workshop on mental health awareness and making positive choices in their high school years. The event will take place at Cochrane-Fountain City High School.

The students will participate in a training called, Signs of Suicide (SOS), which helps young people recognize and respond when they see warning signs in their peers.  Also, our teen court for Buffalo/Pepin County Teen Court panel members, who are trained to use restorative justice approaches, will be conducting a mock hearing related to a vaping violation. To end the morning, students will hear from Dr. Justin Patchin, a UW-Eau Claire professor, who conducts research and presents to educators and students about safe ways to use social media.

The workshop is being sponsored and funded by the Buffalo County Partnership Council (BCPC).  BCPC is a local coalition made up of students, educators, law enforcement, university faculty, and public health advocates that provide collaborative prevention programming to educate youth and their families to make healthy choices and positively influence people and policies.