My group and I were very lucky to have the opportunity to conduct an online interview with mental health specialist Ellen Kelly on January 20, 2022. She has been a mental health school specialist for over 20 years and is currently the Director of Mental Health Program in a Public School in Colorado, where she fulfills many different roles and does many different things, but specializes in suicide prevention and school shootings.

Ellen provided many insightful comments, and I learned a lot from talking to her. One of the things she provoked me to think about is the demographics of children struggling with mental health issues. She stated that she sees mental health struggles manifest completely differently for different genders and that frequently, male students’ mental health struggles are suppressed because of societal pressures. Ellen also shared that she has encountered students in elementary school who are battling with suicidal thoughts and that many of the students who experienced sexual abuse are younger than 6; these facts were hard to confront but not surprising. Throughout her career, she has worked in a predominantly white and wealthy school and in schools with a majority of people of color and impoverished, and the issues they came to her with were very similar mental health issues, which highlights how all teenagers are struggling.

Our group inquired a lot about her profession and what she does to help students, and I was completely astonished by how much her job entails. In her current position, she works with special needs children, does basic counseling, and works through trauma with students. Despite this, there is a significant shortage of mental health staff, especially in schools in impoverished communities.