The Student Mental Health Summit is seeking Michigan schools and practitioners to share successful practices that strengthen the everyday experiences that shape student mental health and well-being.
This year’s Summit will place a particular emphasis on the environment, relationships, expectations, and supports that every student experiences as part of their school day. This Summit is designed to broaden the conversation by exploring what schools can do proactively to strengthen belonging, connection, support, and well-being for all students.
Sessions should provide participants with strategies, examples, resources, or structures they can consider adapting within their own school communities.
Presentations will be approximately 40 minutes. Presenters are encouraged to include student perspective or student presenters whenever appropriate and to provide supporting materials, examples, or resources that participants can take back to their schools.
Presentations from vendors, companies, nonprofit organizations, and other community partners will be considered when the session is educational in nature and demonstrates a clear connection to school-based practice. Priority may be given to proposals submitted in partnership with a Michigan school or district.
Ready to submit?
[PRESENTER SUBMISSION LINK]
Priority Presentation Topics
Building Belonging & Connection
Strategies that help students feel safe, welcomed, valued, and connected to their school community. Topics might include school climate, relationship-building, mentoring or advisory structures, relationship mapping, and practices that ensure every student has a trusted adult.
Student Voice & Peer Support
Approaches that position students as partners in strengthening school culture and well-being. Topics might include student advisory groups, peer mentoring, student-led wellness initiatives, peer support models, authentic student feedback, and leadership opportunities that build agency and connection.
Staff Practices That Shape the Student Experience
Everyday practices educators can use to support student well-being while maintaining strong expectations for learning. Topics might include mental health literacy for educators, recognizing early signs of distress, responding when students share concerns, classroom practices that reduce unnecessary stress, and balancing academic rigor with student well-being.
Reducing Stigma & Strengthening Help-Seeking
School-wide strategies that normalize conversations about mental health and make it easier for students to seek support. Topics might include mental health awareness, communication strategies, student-led campaigns, coping and self-management skills, and creating clear pathways for students to access help.
Digital Well-Being & Social Media
Strategies for helping students navigate the impact of technology on mental health and relationships. Topics might include social media pressure, comparison, online conflict, healthy technology habits, digital citizenship, and supporting healthy identity development in digital spaces.
Inclusive & Identity-Safe School Environments
Practices that help students across different backgrounds and experiences feel respected, included, and comfortable being themselves at school. Topics might include psychological safety, reducing isolation, inclusive school practices, and strengthening connectedness for students who may feel marginalized or disconnected.
Systems That Support Every Student
School-wide approaches that strengthen the foundation of support available to all students. Topics might include Tier 1 MTSS practices, school climate initiatives, universal wellness supports, coordinated systems for connection and belonging, and ways schools identify and respond to gaps in the student experience.
What We Are Looking For
Above all, we are looking for sessions that help answer the guiding question of this year’s Summit:
How can we strengthen the everyday school experience in ways that support student mental health and well-being before more intensive intervention is needed?
If your school or organization has a practice, program, or approach that could help other Michigan schools answer that question, we encourage you to submit a presentation proposal.
Questions?
Contact Matt Alley at Matt@massp.com
Ready to submit?
[PRESENTER SUBMISSION LINK]
Examples of Practices We’d Love to See
- A relationship-mapping process that helps identify students who may not have a trusted adult connection.
- An advisory, mentoring, or check-in structure that has strengthened student-adult relationships and belonging.
- A student advisory council or student voice structure that influences decisions around school culture, climate, or well-being.
- A successful peer mentoring, ambassador, or peer-support program led by students.
- A process for regularly gathering student feedback and demonstrating how that feedback leads to change.
- Classroom, grading, homework, or assessment practices that have reduced unnecessary stress while maintaining strong academic expectations.
- Staff-wide practices that help educators recognize, respond to, and appropriately refer students who may be struggling.
- A school-wide approach that has made it easier and more comfortable for students to ask for help and access support.
- A successful mental health awareness or stigma-reduction initiative that has led to meaningful student engagement.
- A student- or school-led approach to digital well-being, social media pressure, online conflict, or healthy technology use.
- An initiative that has strengthened inclusion, connection, and belonging for students who may feel isolated or disconnected.
- A Tier 1 or school climate initiative that has improved the everyday student experience, particularly around belonging, attendance, stress, behavior, or engagement.