Advocating for Wellness: How Schools Can Champion Student Mental Health and Resilience

What Pine Island Schools taught us about building healthier cultures, helping kids face hard things, and creating a community that supports every student.

Why This Episode Matters Right Now

On the latest episode of the Generation Youth Podcast, I sat down with Tom Horner, a mental health and wellness coordinator at Pine Island Schools, and honestly—it’s one of those conversations that sticks with you long after the mics are turned off.

Schools everywhere are wrestling with the same challenge: How do we support students’ mental wellbeing without drowning our staff in additional responsibilities or waiting for crises to happen?

Tom’s story isn’t just interesting.
It’s a roadmap.
It’s proof that when a school decides to invest in wellness—not as an afterthought, but as a priority—everything begins to shift.

What Happens When Schools Build a Role For Wellness

Most school wellness efforts feel like patchwork. A counselor tries to squeeze in mental health support between transcripts and testing prep. A teacher runs a mindfulness club on Thursdays. A coach tries to mentor three kids who are hanging by a thread.

It’s well-meaning, but disjointed.

Pine Island took a different path.

Instead of purchasing more tech with COVID relief funds, they invested in people, culture, and preventative education—and created the mental health and wellness coordinator role Tom now leads. The job wasn’t neatly defined. There was no binder to copy from the district next door. But the goal was simple:

Make wellness a part of the school’s DNA, not a bolt-on.

Tom’s work now includes:

• HOPE Squad peer-to-peer suicide prevention

• Schoolwide wellness events

• Monthly speakers

• Yoga and fitness sessions

• Staff wellbeing initiatives

• Community resource fairs

This isn’t crisis triage—this is culture-building.

And that’s exactly why it works.

Prevention Beats Reaction Every Time

One of the major takeaways from our conversation was this:
We don’t have enough counselors to react our way out of the mental health crisis.

But we can prevent a huge portion of what leads kids into crisis in the first place.

Tier-one supports—programs designed for the entire student body—shift the culture from the ground up. Instead of asking, “How do we catch kids when they fall?” Tom and his team ask:

“How do we build a school where fewer kids fall?”

Pine Island’s tier-one model includes:

• HOPE Squad: Students supporting students, creating early awareness and connection

• Wellness Fairs: Local professionals + real resources in one place

• Monthly Speakers: Consistent education on leadership, mental health, substance use, and more

• Movement & Mindfulness: Yoga, fitness, and self-regulation tools for staff and students

And it’s not guesswork.
Five years of data show increases in staff retention and student enrollment—both strong indicators of a healthy school ecosystem.

When a school invests in prevention, everyone wins.

“Do Hard Things”: Building Real-World Resilience

One thing I love about Tom’s story is how openly he talks about his own struggles—academics, confidence, even the self-talk he had to fight as an adult.

His solution wasn’t comfort.
It was challenge.

Running marathons.
Tackling an Ironman.
Doing the hard things on purpose.

And that translates beautifully to student life.

For a teenager, “hard things” can look like:

• Speaking up in class

• Making a new friend

• Trying out for a team

• Owning a mistake

• Asking for help

We forget that those moments are mountains when you’re young.

When schools normalize challenge—and pair it with support—students stop fearing the climb. They start discovering their strength.

Resilience isn’t inherited.
It’s built.

And Pine Island is giving students the reps they need to build it.

What Can Schools, Staff, and Parents Do Next?

Tom breaks it down into simple, actionable steps any community can take—even if they don’t have a mental health coordinator or a wellness budget.

Here’s where he says to start:

1. Show Up and Speak Up

Advocate at school board meetings.
Share stories.
Bring data.
Momentum grows when people consistently put wellness on the agenda.

2. Track the Right Numbers

Pay attention to:

• Staff turnover

• Attendance

• Student engagement

• Enrollment trends

Those metrics tell the truth long before the crisis line rings.

3. Use Your Strengths

Not everyone’s a yoga teacher.
Not everyone is a counselor.

But every adult can:

• Model healthy coping

• Build meaningful relationships

• Pay attention to kids on the margins

• Encourage challenge instead of avoiding it

Culture changes when everyone carries one small piece of the load.

4. Remember the Power of “A Million Little Things”

Wellness is not one big program.
It’s not one big event.

It’s the accumulation of tiny moments—connection, care, curiosity—that ripple outward every day.

The Future of Student Wellness Starts With Courage

We’re at a crossroads in education.
Kids don’t need more pressure.
They need more support.
More community.
More adults who believe in the power of facing hard things—together.

Pine Island didn’t wait for the perfect plan.
They started.
They listened.
They adapted.
And now they’re leading the way.

If you’re a parent, educator, or coach wondering what’s possible, this episode offers a hopeful blueprint: wellness isn’t a luxury. It’s a foundation. And when schools build that foundation well, everything else—learning, relationships, resilience—rises with it.