Ever see those signs around North Penn that have three letters SAP? There are many students who struggle with bigger problems than weekend plans or where to go out to dinner with friends. Many students struggle in silence with mental health issues, home issues, and with drug and alcohol misuse. To make sure students don’t struggle in silence anymore, North Penn has advertised a program called SAP to help those struggling.
Many teachers are involved in the SAP program such as teacher Mrs, Lauren Brett and Assistant Principal Mrs. Meghan Schoppe. Both have a strong understanding on how the program works and what goes into being a successful student through SAP.
“It is the Student Assistance Program, it is a state funded program that is run to help with some mental health, academic, behavior needs that might come up for kids,” Schoppe stated.
If there are any students that are struggling but are too scared to ask for help or don’t want to ask for help, the program is set up so that friends could fire out the form for you, teachers, school staff, parents, and even yourself if you feel like you need help. It can easily be accessed through the desktop on students’ computers. Online there is a google form but there are also QR codes on the walls throughout the building that can be scanned anytime.
It may seem embarrassing to be called out of class to receive help through a program like this, but teachers do their best to make it as private as possible.
“We try to not make it obvious to others that we’re asking or bringing it up to a student and we usually just tell them that somebody was concerned about you and here’s what we can offer,” Schoppe explained.
However, it is easy to misunderstand the concept of the SAP program.”What I think kids really need to know is this is not therapy. I think a lot of kids think SAP is therapy and that’s not what SAP is. SAP is a school support to help you with things here,” Schoppe said.
“The kids that mentor, I’m just a check in for them. So if they are having a rough day, they come over and we talk. If they are struggling with a certain class, they come over, we talk. It’s not very formal… It can be. Or it can just be ‘I’m having a rough day, can we chat for a couple minutes?’” Brett said.
Teachers want students to succeed. If a student is referred to SAP, it’s because they need some help to succeed in class. “It’s just something they observe in the classroom. Things like ‘seems distracted’ or ‘not engaged in classwork’ or ‘attendance is an issue’ means somethings up and you can check in with them.” Brett explained.
No teacher is paid extra to be involved in SAP. Each teacher is in the program for their own reasons.
“I would say wanting to have kids have a great high school experience, and knowing that some kids are struggling with just basic high school things that we’ve all been through and I think that kids forget that we’ve gone to high school. I think just forming a relationship with a kid in a mentoring role is kind of why I do it.” Schoppe said.
“As my kids grew up a little bit, I was like ‘oh I see what they struggle with already, how can I make a bigger impact’ other than the 130 kids I teach everyday. So i requested to be a part of SAP three years ago and to me, it’s a nice way to be involved in a school where you know you’re making a difference,” Brett said.
Most students hate going to school because they struggle in silence and think that teachers and staff don’t care about them. That couldn’t be further from the truth for the SAP staff. If there is ever anyone in your life or that you see are struggling, please reach out to the SAP team so they can receive the help they need.