Courtesy of Bowie State University
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Bowie State University on February 6, 2024 during National School Counseling Week, meeting with President Aminta Breaux, faculty and students to learn about the university’s work preparing school-based mental health professionals and more Black male teachers, underscoring the impact of two federal grant awards.
“Bowie State is a model of how institutions of higher learning should approach recruiting students into becoming mental health school counselors and working with local school districts,” said Secretary Cardona.
The Mental Health Service Professional (MHSP) $5 million grant was awarded to the university -in May 2023 to increase the supply of mental health professionals in high-need schools in Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Prince George’s County schools. It is funded through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which is investing $1 billion in schools nationwide to make school-based mental health services available to more students.
In 2023, the Bowie State’s Center for Research & Mentoring of Black Male Students & Teacher also received a $1.5 million August F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program Grant, funded for the first time by the Biden-Harris Administration, to recruit and prepare educators at Minority Serving Institutions to enter the education profession and help address teacher shortages in high-need schools
Secretary Cardona spoke to students and local educators about the critical need for increasing and diversifying the school-based mental health profession and pipelines to create more educatorsof color. He noted the crucial role that school counselors play in supporting the academic, mental health, and social emotional development and success of students.
Bowie State used the MSHP grant to create the Ujima Center for School Counseling Scholars as a a vehicle to recruit and support graduate students to become school counselors. The program offers students scholarships, mentorships and internships with loal schools. Nineteen students were recruited into the program in the first year, exceeding the initial goal of 14. Twelve of the students have already been placed with local school districts demonstrating the program’s effectiveness and impact on the field of mental health services.