The Four Pillars of Erika’s Lighthouse

Promoting inclusive school cultures around mental health

Erika’s Lighthouse has identified four pillars that are essential aspects of every school community. When each program pillar is active in a school we believe students will experience a more inclusive school culture around mental health.

These program pillars impact every partner throughout a school community – students, families and staff.  Districts, schools and classrooms can leverage these programs as comprehensive, integrated, tier-1 initiatives or standalone efforts that work seamlessly with existing school-based programs.

Pillar_One
Classroom Education

Evidence-informed curricula that impacts students in grades 4-12 that promotes good mental health, educates about depression and suicide, reduces stigma and encourages help-seeking.

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Pillar_3
Teen Empowerment

Peer-led school clubs and turn-key activities that normalize and promote conversations around mental health by reducing stigma, educating peers and promoting help-seeking.

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pillar_2
Family Engagement

Handbooks, workshops, activities, discussion guides and other resources that foster inclusive and supportive dialogue in homes around mental health that promotes wellness.

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pillar_4
School Policy & Staff

Staff training, policy recommendations and partnerships that help schools build a coordinated, comprehensive strategy to meet the mental health needs of students.

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The Goals of an Inclusive School Culture

Support
Connectedness

Encourage
Help-Seeking

Promote Good
Mental Health

Reduce
Stigma

Normalize
Conversations

The Suite of Programs

Classroom Education

Establish a mental health foundation through education and empathy.

Teen Empowerment

Empowered teens can normalize conversations around mental health and encourage help-seeking.

Family Engagement

Good mental health begins at home.

School Policy & Staff

School-based personnel establish the framework for an inclusive school culture.

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Ten Advantages of Erika’s Lighthouse

Wraparound Programming
We don’t just offer a standalone curriculum, we believe in impacting the whole school by promoting inclusive school cultures through our four pillars of programs – Classroom Education, Teen Empowerment, Family Engagement and School Policy & Staff.

Real Teens, Real Empowerment
We believe that the voices of real teens telling their real stories can make the difference. Our diverse, authentic videos speak directly to each and every teen in a classroom.

Skills-Based
Our programs do not just impact a point in time for students that may be experiencing mental illness. They are designed to teach students the life skills they need to find information and seek help if they experience a mental health issue one year, two years or even ten years later.

Depression is Relatable
We believe that more upstream approaches to school mental health make the difference. Our programs reach more students by talking about depression, a common, yet serious, mood disorder that acts as an entry conversation for mental health and suicide prevention.

Self-Referral Empowers Teens
Our program uses self-referral cards that encourage teens to take control of their mental health by asking for help for themselves or a friend. When empowered and supported – the teens can make the best decisions for themselves.

Impacting Every Stakeholder
We strive to positively impact every stakeholder in a school community – students, staff and families. By offering everyone a common vocabulary, universal handouts and easy to use language, schools can normalize conversations around mental health.

One-on-One Support
We provide individualized support for educators, counselors, social workers and other school personnel to meaningfully implement our programs in districts, schools or classrooms.

Turn-Key
We make talking about mental health easy. All of our resources are designed to be ready to use by any student, educator or family member that needs them.

Customizable Resources
We want our information and resources to be meaningful to every stakeholder – students, staff and families. Our curricula is adaptable with one to four day lessons and over 70% of our resources can be customized with school logos, specific names of individuals and more.

No Cost – Always
Our resources and the support we offer to help implement them will always be available at no cost to schools.

Create a Resource Portal Account

Instantly access every no-cost resource offered by Erika’s Lighthouse today!