‘Hailey’s Voice’ Brings Mental Health Training To Hillsborough Schools

Hailey’s Voice of Hope will bring instructors from the Jordan Binion Project to Hillsborough County Public Schools to train local educators in a mental health awareness program that will be taught to local high school students. (Photo courtesy of Jordan Binion Project/Facebook)

The pain never goes away.

But, for Chris and Lisa Acierno, there is a way to deal with it.

By starting a foundation, called Hailey’s Voice of Hope, named for their daughter Hailey, who was 17 when she took her own life in 2017,  the Arbor Greene parents are aiming to bring awareness to something their daughter struggled with — mental health issues — and the stigma associated with those issues.

The foundation recently announced that it has partnered with the Hillsborough County School District and the Jordan Binion Project (JBP) to provide training that will pave the way for mental health awareness to be taught to Hillsborough County students.

JBP is a nonprofit organization based in Washington state, created by parents who also lost their son to suicide, also related to mental illness. That foundation has spread a mental health awareness curriculum throughout the state, with a goal of getting the training into all high schools across the country.

The Washington-based nonprofit’s first entrance into Florida is here in Tampa, thanks to Hailey’s Voice of Hope. Instructors from JBP will offer two training sessions in April. Those who complete the workshop will be “trainers,” who can then train teachers to be able to present the curriculum directly to students.

The program is designed to help students identify signs of mental illness and provide resources to help those who need them. It is targeted to high school and eighth grade students.

“We’re a small foundation,” explains Lisa, “and this is something we can afford to do that will impact a lot of kids.”

Hailey Acierno

She says the cost, which is about $12,000 to cover the expenses of the trainers who will travel to Florida, is a fairly small amount that will have a huge impact. The curriculum itself is provided for free to the schools.

The money to pay the expenses was raised primarily through a golf tournament to benefit Hailey’s Voice of Hope held last fall, which brought in more than $15,000. A second annual golf tournament is planned to be held this October.

Acierno hopes the training will have a ripple effect. Once some trainers begin training teachers, and teachers begin implementing the program, she hopes other teachers will want to be trained. As the word spreads, Lisa expects that other schools and school districts will want the program brought to them, as well.

She believes the training is desperately needed for students in today’s schools.

“I have kids who reach out to me by phone or through Facebook messages and tell me their mom doesn’t believe that there’s an issue,” she says. “I’m hoping this will do some good for kids to help them figure out how to talk with their parents better and get some resources to give them help.”

A Focus On Mental Health

Hillsborough County Public Schools District 3 School Board member Cindy Stuart says that mental health issues are a strong focus in Florida schools right now.

“This is unique in that it’s being funded differently than the typical state or federal funding,” she says. “The Aciernos raised the money to bring this to the district, and they are passionate about being sure that something different gets done to fill the gaps in the system.”

Stuart says that the people on school campuses who have the most training in mental health issues, such as school psychologists, don’t interact with each student on a daily basis. “This program will educate and train and inform our teachers — the people who are in front of our kids every day,” she says.

Elizabeth Tanner, supervisor of emotional wellness, and Holly Saia, director of student services, are two district employees who have been working to bring the JBP program to Hillsborough County Schools.

“This program caught our eye because it’s so comprehensive and gives people the big picture of many types of mental health illnesses and resources,” says Tanner. “Sometimes, it’s very easy to be knowledgeable about medical-physical issues, but medical-mental health issues can be more challenging.”

Tanner and Saia explain that part of the training will be to brainstorm how to roll the curriculum out in local high schools, whether it, eventually, will be presented to all schools or just in certain classes or to certain students. 

At this time, none of those things had yet been determined.

However, Tanner and Saia agree that anyone who is trained and wants to go back and immediately implement the program at their schools are welcome to do so right away.

“This curriculum is very beneficial,” Saia says. “We’re excited to see a curriculum this in-depth that they are willing to share, free of charge.”

The two training sessions in Tampa will be held Monday-Thursday, April 22-25, at Keiser University on W. Waters Ave. in Tampa.

The two-day workshops are open to all Hillsborough County teachers and staff, with some seats reserved for representatives of private and charter schools, as well as from other Florida counties. 

To learn more about signing up for this training, contact Lisa Acierno at foundation@haileysvoice.org.

Acierno says there has been a great response to the program so far. Within a couple of weeks of announcing the training, she says that more than 100 spots were already reserved.

“I’m going to one of the trainings myself, so that I can train teachers in the future,” Acierno says. “This is my way to cope.”

For more information about Hailey’s Voice of Hope, visit HaileysVoice.org. To learn more about the Jordan Binion Project, visit JordanBinionProject.org.

NTRC Expansion Will Break Ground Next Month

This is the latest rendering for the NTRC expansion. The new additions are the lower rooms in yellow. (Image: Tampa Parks & Recreation)

The New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC) expansion is, officially, a go.

Despite a number of obstacles over the years, including being dropped from the budget on more than one occasion, the Tampa City Council approved an additional $660,000 in funding on March 7 and voted 7-0 to award the contract to Valrico-based Phinazee and Granger Construction, Inc.

A groundbreaking is scheduled for Friday, April 12, at 10 a.m.

“There is no going back now,” said District 7 City Council member Luis Viera. “It 100 percent has been set off on its course.”

The NTRC’s 7,825-sq.-ft. expansion is expected to make the facility’s immensely popular gymnastics and dance programs more accessible to those currently on a waiting list that numbers in the thousands of names.

The expansion is expected to be completed around the end of 2019.

Paul Dial, the director of the City of Tampa’s Parks & Recreation Department, says a number of improvements will be made, but noted that three will make the most impact.

First, Dial says, one of the new rooms being designed will be for participants ages 6 years old and younger. 

“That will allow us to really focus on our efforts with them in a smaller setting, versus the large gymnasium, or gymnastics room, they learn in now,” he said. Not only will it create less distractions for the younger athletes, according to Dial, but it will free up more room for the older competitors in the existing areas.

Secondly, one of the additional rooms will double the area for the NTRC’s popular dance program. 

And thirdly, says Dial, another room is being developed that will be called the Training Box, which will have an emphasis on strength and conditioning and also feature a youth and adult component, the latter of which does not currently exist at the facility. “We think all three of these will really enhance the center,” Dial says. “We’re pretty excited about them.”

Although $1.9 million was approved in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget for the expansion, following a vocal effort by supporters from New Tampa and some contentious debate on the City Council, the cost estimates at the time proved to be too low compared to the bids the city received for the project.

Dial said rising costs for materials, such as steel, as well as higher prices due to a better economy, were to blame. “You never truly know the cost of a project until the bids come in,” he said.

Phinazee and Granger Construction, Inc.’s bid of $2,390,000 required additional funds — $660,000, or 27 percent of the original estimate — to be reallocated to cover the costs. Although two lower bids were rejected for errors, the Phinazee and Granger bid was the lowest of the seven others submitted.

Viera says the $660,000 came from a pool of funds set aside for projects that go over budget. “There’s red flags for something like that, when it requires additional money,” Viera said. “I was prepared for that. Let’s put it this way — was I worried? Yes. But was I actively worried something would happen and the project would be sunk? No.”