10th Annual Wellness Together Conference

This session will provide an update on the most recent legislative, fiscal and policy actions occurring at the state level as well as an analysis of the current political landscape and the opportunities for youth mental health services and funding.

Many school systems have adopted suicide prevention policies, yet translating policy into consistent practice remains a challenge. This session highlights a proven, scalable approach developed by the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) that has supported more than 30 districts and charter schools in strengthening suicide intervention systems and informed California Assembly Bill 2003.

Participants will explore a structured, data-informed framework for moving from policy adoption to operational practice from this replicable model. Presenters will share lessons learned from partnering with local education agencies to align procedures with policy expectations, establish clear intervention pathways, create consistent responses across school sites, and build local capacity to sustain implementation over time.

This session will examine how local systems-improvement efforts helped inform California AB 2003, demonstrating how county-level innovation can influence statewide policy. The legislation advances suicide prevention efforts by requiring reporting of suicide risk screening data and mandating the development of free statewide suicide prevention training for students, staff, and families.

Participants will leave with access to SDCOE’s award-winning Policy to Practice Suicide Intervention Toolkit and implementation replication guide, featuring evidence-informed protocols, customizable templates, decision-making tools, and practical implementation resources. Attendees will gain insight into the key systems, tools, and conditions that support equitable and effective responses to students experiencing suicidal ideation.

What happens when a room full of individuals starts singing together — and why can the effect feel so powerful?
Following the collective singing experience in the opening keynote, this interactive session explores the science and psychology behind singing together — and what it can teach us about supporting the wellbeing of young people.
James Sills will begin by exploring how singing can support the three interconnected pillars of health — physical, mental and social — before zooming out to examine the mechanisms that make collective singing so powerful: trust, participation, synchrony, psychological safety and belonging.
For educators and professionals working to support wellbeing in schools and colleges, the session will consider how these principles can help create environments where young people feel safer, more connected, more engaged and part of something bigger than themselves.
Drawing upon ideas from his first book, Do Sing, and introducing ideas from his upcoming book, The Choir Effect, James will combine research with stories and practical insights from schools, choirs, workplaces and communities — demonstrating how the lessons of the choir can reach far beyond music.

Session aims
Participants will:

• Understand how singing can support the physical, mental and social health of young people
• Explore how singing can support breathing, stress regulation, mood, confidence and emotional wellbeing
• Consider how shared music can help address social isolation and disconnection and strengthen a young person’s sense of belonging
• Discover the Icebreaker Effect and why strangers who sing together can bond surprisingly quickly
• Understand how synchrony — coordinating our voices, breathing, attention and behaviour — can strengthen social bonds and move us from “me” towards “we”
• Explore why active participation can create deeper connection than passive observation
• Consider the importance of psychological safety, vulnerability and the stretch zone, particularly when inviting young people to participate
• Explore how shared rituals, collective flow, collective joy and peak moments can strengthen groups and school communities
• Translate these ideas beyond music into practical ways of creating greater trust, connection and belonging in schools and colleges

Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.

Let’s talk about how Unconditional Positive Regard for students and families cultivates a sense of belonging among students.  We’ll engage in a collaborative discussion format to explore the ways in which we may provide care and understanding to three historically marginalized communities (Newcomer students and families, Muslim students and families, & LGBTQIA+ students and families) and, in the process, improve student well-being and school culture and climate.

Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.

Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.

Communities nationwide face a critical shortage of licensed mental health clinicians—especially in underserved and rural areas—while early career professionals encounter financial, structural, and policy barriers to licensure. This Session shares a multistate, real world solution: the Mental Health Workforce Acceleration Program. Grounded in lived implementation across California and Hawaiʻi, this session will guide participants through a replicable workforce navigation framework that accelerates licensure, centers equity, and strengthens youth serving systems—without losing human connection at the core.

Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.

Generative AI presents a profound challenge to youth mental wellness by tempting students to short-circuit their learning process, subvert their unique voices, and disconnect from their educational communities. To address this urgent issue, this presentation offers an actionable framework grounded in Transformational Leadership and Design Thinking that teaches students how to ethically engage with technology while bringing their authentic selves to their work. Rather than fighting digital trends, attendees will learn how to leverage empathy to understand the underlying pressures driving students toward academic shortcuts, and use innovation to foster safe risk-taking and collaborative problem-solving. The core of this highly interactive session centers on the "AI Sandwich" method—a practical, easily replicable strategy for healthy tech engagement. Participants will discover how to guide students to establish their own ideas and drafts first to build honesty and authenticity (the "Top Bun"), utilize AI strictly as a collaborative brainstorming and refining partner (the "Filling"), and conduct the final edits to retain ultimate ownership and accountability (the "Bottom Bun"). By shifting the focus from digital reliance back to human connection, this evidence-based approach equips educators and clinicians with the immediate tools needed to protect academic integrity, alleviate performance anxiety, and empower the next generation of confident, authentic learners and leaders.

Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.

The first of its kind in the U.S., allcove is developing an innovative network of integrated youth mental health centers designed with, by and for youth that reduce stigma, embrace mental wellness, increase community connection and provide access to culturally-responsive services.
allcove centers serve young people ages 12-25, providing a unique space for them to access our services, with resources and support for friends, family and the larger community. Our centers are embedded within the communities they serve and reflect the unique needs of local youth.

Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.

Although reported percentages vary, it is well established that adolescents experience mental health challenges at high rates. Teens often do not feel “heard” by adults or comfortable reaching out to them for fear of judgment, minimization of their issue, or attempts to “fix” it. Building upon the premise that teens feel more comfortable talking to a peer who knows the unique challenges of being a teen in 2026, the session navigators will share the unique ways they have empowered youth to help one another and their respective communities.

Join us for a dynamic 12-minute Lighthouse Talk, designed to showcase bold ideas, innovative practices, and inspiring stories shaping the future of student mental health and wellness. This presentation is one of four featured during this one-hour block. Due to the fast-paced format, there will be no formal Q&A, but we encourage you to connect with the speaker directly after the block to continue the conversation.

At a time when conversations about youth mental health are largely focused on problems and limitations, we want to zero in on a creative and accessible opportunity hiding in plain sight: sport.

In this session, participants will examine sport through a “brain-based” lens to draw clear connections between neurodevelopment and three inherent properties of sport - movement, connection, and manageable stress. With a deeper understanding of how the brain and nervous system develop, participants will begin to see how intentionally designed sport experiences can act as a powerful tool to support youth mental health and wellbeing.