ROCKVILLE, Md. — Mental health took center stage at an event called Your Story Matters on Tuesday night.
"Our students have been crying out for social-emotional support and mental health support, and this is one of the ways we are trying to meet the needs of the community," said Natasha Davis Bolden.
Bolden is the Executive Director of the Office of School Support and Well Being.
Across the country, 70% of public schools reported that, as of April, more students are seeking mental health services, than before the start of the pandemic. That’s according to the Institute of Education Sciences.
Bolden told WUSA9 that Montgomery County Schools has increased the number of social workers and psychologists in schools.
The event was hosted by Montgomery County Public Schools. It was held at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland.
During the event, they had booths for parents to check out different mental health resources that are available. They also had panel discussions and played videos of some of the students sharing their stories.
"We all come with a story and every single one of those stories matter," said Bolden.
Tracy Martin attended the event. Her daughter attends Travilah Elementary School in Potomac. She told WUSA9 that mental health needs to be every parent's focus right now.
"These are the ones that we hear about that are suffering in silence but they're acting out because they don't know how to get help," said Martin.
She told WUSA9 she thought the event was a great start.
"There were a lot of people there who seemed really interested so I think this is a start of something new and something that's desperately needed," said Martin.
Organizers told WUSA9 that this is the second event of this nature that they've held, and that they're planning to hold another in the spring.