Between bullying, abuse and even school shootings, teachers don’t always know the best way to respond to whatever might be troubling students and keep them from academic success.

For Megan Adkins, a teacher at South Warren Middle School, this year’s Promoting Positive Mental Health in our Schools and Communities conference was a great start.

“This is a good place to start building those bridges,” Adkins said of the conference that brought together regional educators and representatives from LifeSkills, Rivendell Behavioral Health Hospital, Aetna and Western Kentucky University.

The two-day conference at the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative drew about 100 participants ranging from educators and school district personnel to mental health care providers.

Between sessions Thursday and Friday, much of the conversation focused on implementing a framework for how to recognize and address students’ mental health problems.

Sessions focused on implementing an approach called the Interconnected Systems Framework, which blends strategies for encouraging good student behavior, positive school cultures and student mental health.

Dustin Kirby, service coordinator with LifeSkills, said the conference was helpful with networking and understanding data.

“It has so much packed into two days that there’s something for anyone to latch on to,” he said.

He also saw it as a good way to introduce his job to educators and was able to connect with representatives of Webster County Schools.

Robin Gregory, clinical director of children’s services at LifeSkills, agreed.

“It’s really helped us to work together,” he said.

Kathy Maciel, a GRREC behavior consultant helping to lead the training sessions, said the goal of the conference was to raise awareness and break down the stigma surrounding mental health.

The group’s mission, she said, was “to address the needs of all of our students.”