Pearland ISD highlights counseling services and schedules Jan. 29 'I Will Ask' mental-health event

Pearland ISD's coordinator of counseling, Dr. Chinda Moore, told the district's Building Blocks podcast that the counseling department's top priorities are expanding community mental-health partnerships, increasing quantitative data collection on counseling services, and strengthening school-based efforts to address youth suicide, ideation and substance use.

"Our purpose is to empower our students to reach their fullest potential as productive citizens and lifelong learners," said Dr. Chinda Moore, coordinator of counseling for Pearland ISD. She said counselors also handle academic work — transcripts, GPAs and college and career planning — in addition to students' social and emotional needs.

Moore described three district priorities: promoting community mental-health connections to reduce access barriers for families, improving data collection so counselors' work can be quantitatively demonstrated to district leaders and the school board, and expanding school-based efforts to address suicide, substance use and other mental-health issues such as anxiety, depression, perfectionism and grief.

Superintendent Rob Berger, host of the podcast, said he uses counselor reports when briefing the school board and praised counseling staff as "the heartbeat of the campus." Berger and Moore agreed that social media and cellphone attachment are major challenges for students. Moore urged partnering with parents and community mentors to help young people process online content and cited concern about vaping, THC and other substances affecting student well-being.

Moore promoted the district's student-led mental-health outreach program, I Will Ask, and said the next large community event will be Jan. 29, 2025, at Turner College and Career High School from 5 to 8 p.m. She said the event will include student tables, nearly 40 mental-health agencies, community vendors, door prizes, activities, speakers and food, and that the event is funded by community contributions with communications staff supporting fundraising. "If you need help, ask," Moore said of the program's central message.

Moore described other district efforts: monthly Coffee with the Counselors sessions (hosted via Microsoft Teams and recorded on the Guidance and Services webpage) and the TACRO college fair run with Friendswood ISD on a rotating schedule among high schools. She also highlighted Pearland Next, a CTE-focused event for current eighth graders that will bus junior-high students to Turner to learn about programs of study and career pathways.

Moore noted support for staff mental health and burnout, saying many teachers and staff need increased support since COVID: "If you don't put your oxygen mask on first, you can't help anybody else," she said, urging increased staff self-care and resources. She also recognized two counselors — Tara LaMer (Carlson Elementary) and Landry Angel (Rustic Oak Elementary) — who received the CREST (Counselors Reinforcing Excellence in Students in Texas) award and will be highlighted at the Texas School Counseling Association conference.

Berger and Moore closed by asking community volunteers to help fill mentor and wraparound-service needs and noting district tools such as a digital care portal that coordinates community responses for food, clothing, housing and other needs. Moore encouraged parents to consult the Pearland ISD Guidance and Services webpage for recordings and resources and noted a Coffee with the Counselors session scheduled for Jan. 16 on human trafficking, social media and Internet safety.

Moore ended with a direct message to students: "Don't give up. There is so much life beyond what you are going through right now."