School communities everywhere are under unprecedented pressure. Rising student mental health needs and increasing educator stress are challenging districts to sustain learning environments that support academic, social and emotional growth.
In a 2025 survey of K12 teachers, 45% described the 2024–25 school year as the most stressful of their careers. A 2021 national survey found that 37%t of high school students reported poor mental health most or all of the time, and 44% experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
My work has always centered on designing meaningful learning environments, convening partners who elevate the mission, and building intergenerational programs that move culture forward.
That approach has guided everything from the digital citizenship summits I’ve led in collaboration with educators, students and global partners across nine countries; to the Global Student Showcase with sessions also in Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic; to my work with ISTE launching the DigCitCommit initiative to help students stay safe, solve problems, and become a force for good; and to the hybrid DigCitCommit Virtual Congress event held at Facebook headquarters.
That same mindset shaped what we built at FETC. I led the effort to establish a dedicated wellness space and recommended Eric Kussin as a main stage speaker to set the tone for a more inclusive, accessible approach to mental health in education.
Working alongside Joseph DiPuma, district coordinator of innovation for Flagler Schools, and supported by partners Steelcase, Perdue and Smith System, we designed a learning space that is both intentional and functional. The result blends environmental design with evidence-based tools and programming that schools, districts and organizations can adopt through #SameHere Global.
Bringing this vision to the FETC community reflects the broader work I’ve been doing for years: building experiences that strengthen culture, improve practice, and provide school communities the language and tools they need to move forward.
From conversation to concept
This idea began last spring during a conversation with Jennifer Womble, FETC program chair. I proposed creating a dedicated wellness space where attendees could learn, reset and experience mental health practices firsthand.
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The timing was ideal because Jennifer shared that FETC was seeking a mental health main stage speaker. I responded immediately, “I have the speaker for you.”
That speaker is my colleague and friend, Eric Kussin, founder of #SameHere Global. I first met Eric in May 2020 during a Mental Health Awareness Month panel, and hearing his story marked the start of a new learning path that aligned naturally with my previous work in digital citizenship.
Through Eric’s guidance, I began to unlearn and relearn outdated mental health language that contributes to misunderstanding, shame and the downward trends we continue to see. He helped me recognize how language around mental health shapes behavior and culture.
This insight builds on more than 10 years of audits I have conducted in the digital citizenship space for school districts, nonprofits and for-profit organizations seeking to align their programs with proactive and inclusive language. This same perspective now guides my wellness and mental health audits of websites, emails, press releases, social media channels, all communication and existing programs.
Words shape community culture, and this work shows how language used by schools influences how students understand themselves, experience belonging and safety, engage in learning, and seek support, while also shaping educator practice, family conversations, and the overall culture of the school community.
Together, we brought that vision to FETC, creating STARR (Stress & Trauma Active Release & Rewiring) Gym for the Brain, a space where mental health becomes tangible and actionable, and where school communities can experience firsthand the tools and practices that support emotional wellbeing.
#SameHere global movement
Eric’s journey began as a sports executive with the NBA league office, Chicago Sky, Phoenix Suns, New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers. His life changed when a severe mental health crisis left him almost bedridden for more than two years.
After over 50 medication combinations failed, he turned to a holistic approach that restored the connection between his body and mind, giving him stability and a renewed purpose. Motivated by his recovery, he founded #SameHere Global to support others who were struggling in silence.
Today, Eric is a respected global keynote speaker and program developer, working with organizations from the Dallas Cowboys to JP Morgan Chase, as well as school communities worldwide. His message is simple and inclusive: mental health impacts everyone.
Instead of relying on the familiar one-in-five statistic about mental illness, he emphasizes five-in-five to reinforce that every person lives and moves along a mental health continuum. My work with him has helped me refine a practical definition of mental health that school communities can adopt as they examine their programs, communication, and culture.
Eric is delivering a mega session titled “How You Doin’? Addressing Schools’ Need for a Common Language Emotional Health Check-In” on Jan. 12 in WF1 and WF2 Tangerine Ballroom, from 11:15 a.m. to 12 noon. His session introduces the evidence-based, psychometrically validated #SameHere Scale, which gives school communities consistent language to support emotional health.
This connects directly to my work because shared language is the foundation of every audit I conduct across websites, newsletters, handbooks, press releases, social media channels and existing programs. Clarity in language is the starting point for meaningful change.
This shared understanding shaped the vision for the FETC space. Through our collaboration, it became clear that terms like “zen den” can unintentionally imply that only certain people need support, which creates an “us and them” dynamic.
Regulation and resilience practices are for everyone, just as a gym is for all bodies. That clarity inspired the decision to design #SameHere Global’s Gym for the Brain, a space where attendees strengthen skills, build habits and practice emotional regulation daily.
The STARR framework and the #SameHere Scale work together by offering both action-based tools and a shared language for communities to help everyone stay or move back into their healthiest range.
Experiencing the STARR Gym for the Brain at FETC
See you in the Gym located in room W333. We designed a space where attendees can experience what every school can offer: a comfortable, intentional environment for mental health wellness practice.
Drop in to meet the team, attend sessions, explore the room, experience the space, and learn about #SameHere Global programs and the design thinking behind the environment.
Presenters will be using the Gym for sessions such as:
- Supporting Student Well-Being in an AI-Driven World with Michelle Bartsch and Anne Brown
- Digital Explorers: Engaging Strategies to Teach Digital Wellness in the Classroom with Dr. Matthew Joseph
- Beyond the Screen: Unplugged Thinking for Digital Balance with Laurie Guyon
- Digital Empathy with Amy Storer
- The Joy Lab: Empathy, Innovation, and Acknowledgement with Dan Ryder
- NatureTech and SEL with Andrew Ferrone
- Teaching While Wired: Strategies for Regulating Educator Nervous Systems in a
- Digitally-Driven Classroom: Strategies for Regulating Educator Nervous Systems in a digitally-driven classroom with Mandy Froehlich
- Unplug to Grow with Dr. Dene Gainey and more.
When sessions are not scheduled, the room is open for attendees to practice STARR exercises independently, regulate their nervous systems and explore the space alongside our furniture partners for inspiration as they imagine similar environments in their own schools.
Why every school district needs this
School leaders know that student wellbeing affects attendance, behavior, engagement and achievement. Teachers under chronic stress cannot give their best, and staff burnout continues to rise. In 2025, 95% of teachers reported experiencing some degree of stress, and more than two-thirds said it was moderate to severe.
The STARR Gym for The Brain offers a new blueprint. It treats mental health like physical health; gives schools a shared space to build regulation, emotional literacy, and self-care habits; and aligns with SEL, trauma-informed practice and whole-child approaches that strengthen academic outcomes.
FETC attendees will leave the conference with ready-to-use resources: shared language, evidence-based tracking and brain-body regulation tools that support wellness across entire communities.
With an increased need for schools to provide mental health supports, school communities demand environments where wellness is embedded in daily practice, not treated as an add-on or a crisis response. Creating these spaces requires more than new tools or updated terminology. It requires a shared understanding of how language, design and daily interactions shape trust, belonging and emotional safety.
When districts align what they say, what they model and what they build, they create learning environments where students and educators feel seen, supported and empowered to engage fully.
From reactive to proactive wellness
This is where my audit work comes in. Scheduling an audit is not about swapping out words. It is about shifting hearts and minds while providing school districts with practical, usable guidance.
Together, we examine communication, programs and learning environments through the lens of hand, heart and mind. The result is intentional design, shared language and actionable next steps that help districts move from reactive wellness efforts to a proactive, inclusive culture that strengthens wellbeing for students, educators, families and the broader community.
