In recent years, legislators from Arizona to Delaware began passing laws mandating mental health education in schools. The only challenge? There are few appropriate curricula to work from, particularly for middle school audiences. 

NAMI National saw an opportunity: go upstream and create a flexible middle school mental health literacy curriculum to meet requirements and improve mental health outcomes for young people. Through a partnership with researchers and a co-design process with mental health experts, educators, young people, and NAMI leaders, Flexible Learning for Adolescent Resiliency Education (FLARE) was born. 

The free FLARE curriculum allows educators, schools, districts, and states to design a mental health education program that suits both student needs and local requirements.

Presenters will highlight how mental health literacy fits into the education landscape, and how anyone can become a mental health literacy advocate.

Learning Objectives

In this session, NAMI National staff and research partners from the Ballmer Institute will share:

1. The need for FLARE, including a demonstration of the new interactive NAMI School Mental Health Education Map;
2. How the presenters approached and co-designed FLARE;
3. An overview of the FLARE curriculum content;
4. Results of the pilot study; and
5. Tangible ways audience members can advocate for FLARE and mental health literacy in their communities.