About the Curriculum – Gizmo 4 Mental Health

All about Gizmos Pawesome Guide to Mental Health © Elementary School Curriculum!

This is a fun, flexible, turn-key curriculum for elementary youth in 3rd and 4th grade that introduces the lessons in Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health using an animated Power Point and interactive activities for youth. The curriculum strives to help youth, their trusted adults, and the settings in which they live support their mental health and social emotional learning. The program creates a greater sense of individual and community connectedness thereby strengthening children’s mental wellness and reducing their risk of many negative health outcomes, but most importantly poor mental health and suicide.

Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health Info Card

What is the curriculum’s purpose?

Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health © Elementary Curriculum Takes an upstream approach to support the mental health and wellness of youth and is data-driven and evidence-informed. Through the curriculum, Gizmo uses basic language to introduce the topic of mental health, encourage self-identification of warning signs in a non-threatening way, and teaches children when to apply the use of internal and external healthy coping strategies to help reduce risk. Gizmo also educates children on the characteristics of Trusted Adults, who may be one, and how to practice talking with a Trusted Adult to promote proactive communication, social emotional learning, self-advocacy, and community connectedness.

Gizmo teaches five primary lessons:

LESSON 1- Introduction to mental health and self-care
LESSON 2 - Signs of when mental health needs attention and healthy coping activities
LESSON 3 - Identifying and connecting to Trusted Adults
LESSON 4 - Completing “My Mental Health Plan”
LESSON 5 – Activities to reinforce the lessons in the guide

Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health © Elementary Curriculum not only teaches children the basics of mental health, coping strategies, and help seeking, but also creates a climate of preparedness and connectedness in the institutions that implement it.

Here’s some real feedback from folks who have implemented the Gizmo Curriculum:

“I think it has had a great impact on youth/school climate so students feel comfortable reaching out to trusted adults and likely feel the trusted adults are approachable.” School Administration
“I would say the Gizmo curriculum, and the messages it portrays are both powerful and empowering to students, and helping them to take perhaps, the first footsteps in knowing how to take care of their mental health!” - School staff memeber
“I am so happy to see this being addressed for our kids. We don't have health class for our kids until middle school, but to tell you the truth, I think this is better than any health class that I ever took.” - Parent of a child in the curriculum
“The staff identified as trusted adults reacted with pride, pleasure, happiness that they were seen that way by the students.” - School Administration
“Of the many pilot curricula, we have been exposed too, Gizmo's is one we are very excited to bring into the school on a permanent basis.” - School staff member

What's the cost and how do I order?

One Gizmo Kit costs $300 and provides enough materials for a group of up to 25 youth.

Each kit comes with physical materials that will be mailed, and digital materials that are accessible on the locked section of the Gizmo curriculum webpage. Once a site has provided evidence of completed faculty/staff gatekeeper training, through our attestation form, they will be granted access to the secured curriculum page.

Instructions to order your Gizmos Pawesome Guide to Mental Health Elementary Curriculum:

Step 1: Before curriculum can be ordered, purchasers must submit this Attestation Form, affirming the Trusted Adults in their system have been trained in Gatekeeper Training. Please preview form in advance to ensure accurate completion.

Staff Gatekeeper Training:

Because we do not know who youth will identify as their Trusted Adult to go to when they need help, it is crucial that all site staff from support staff (i.e. administrative assistants, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians) to administrators (i.e. Principals, Directors) and clinicians (i.e. Licensed, Certified) are trained at a minimum as Gatekeepers to recognize and respond to youth with mental health needs and who may be also be at risk for suicide. Your site/organization must complete a best practice youth mental health or suicide prevention gatekeeper training for the Trusted Adults onsite (e.g. Youth Mental Health First Aid, Question Persuade Refer, Talk Saves Lives, More Than Sad, safeTALK).

In CT, please visit this resource page for more information on gatekeeper training programs available in the state.
For information on selecting a gatekeeper training, please visit this resource page.
To identify gatekeeper training resources in your state, please contact your state suicide prevention contact listed here.

Updating of Policies, Procedures and Protocols:

Site policies, procedures and protocols related to early identification (screening and assessment), referral, connections to care, and follow-up should be updated using state standards, legislation, and national best practice guidance, and should include suicide prevention, intervention and response specifically.

Please visit the Prevent Suicide CT website for school based resources and refer to the AFSP Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention to review a safety protocol model for school policy and procedures.

Step 2: After you submit your Attestation Form (see above), you will receive an email that contains the online ordering link and instructions.

Curriculum development, evidence base, and awards

Gizmo’s bio: He is the mascot for the CT suicide prevention campaign- “1 WORD, 1 VOICE, 1 LIFE…Be the 1 to start the conversation,” and his fellow therapy dog and K9 First Responder friends use a warm and fuzzy approach to introduce youth to what can be a challenging subject for adults to discuss and for youth to understand. This approach makes the Guide engaging, memorable, and not only easy to use, but fun as well.

Background: The Guide was developed to respond to a critical youth suicide prevention and mental health promotion education and service gap evidenced by the Connecticut data, and to support youth mental health literacy. Utilizing the evidence-based Safety Plan (Stanley and Brown, 2012) as the framework, the Guide introduces mental health and wellness knowledge and skills to youth at an early age with the hope that they may keep and apply what they learn for a lifetime to help them stay healthy and safe. These include:

What is mental health;
Mental health is equally as important as physical health;
Daily activities that support mental health wellness;
How to identify when mental health needs attention;
Internal and external healthy coping strategies that support mental health;
How to identify and connect with trusted adults; and
Resources to share with trusted adults.

References:
CT Department of Public Health (2015). CT School Health Survey (2015, 2017).
https://portal.ct.gov/dph/Health-Information-Systems--Reporting/Hisrhome/Connecticut-School-Health-Survey
Stanley, B. & Brown, G. K. (2012).
Safety Planning Intervention: A Brief Intervention to Mitigate Suicide Risk. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19, 256-264. http://suicidesafetyplan.com/uploads/Safety_Planning_-_Cog___Beh_Practice.pdf

The Gizmo Curriculum aligns with CASEL and MTSS, and supports Protective Factors.

Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health: An Upstream Approach to Mental Health Promotion for Elementary Youth Through a Suicide Prevention Lens

Acknowledgments and awards:
Click here to read more testimonials from parents, students, and school staff about the Curriculum

December 2023: The Gizmo book and curriculum won a 2023 American Graphic Design Award from Graphic Design USA.

June 2022: The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) endorsed the Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health Elementary Curriculum as an Emerging Practice

Contact Us: For consultation, guidance, training information, or a copy of our evaluation report on Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health Elementary Curriculum ( 2020), please do not hesitate to Contact Us at: https://www.gizmo4mentalhealth.org/contact/

To connect with a Gizmo Specialist (email, text, virtual call) to answer any questions or walk through the curriculum please do not hesitate to Contact Us at: https://www.gizmo4mentalhealth.org/contact/