Putnam City Elementary Implements App To Track Students Mental Health

A Putnam City Schools counselor, Megan Still, is finding a new way to check in on her student’s mental health through an app called WellCheq.

“I feel like I’m an advocate for the child,” she said.

But it's impossible to be in two places, or in Central Elementary’s case, hundreds at once. “Sometimes I’m pulled in all directions throughout the day. This gives me a chance to have a pulse on my students, even when I’m not able to be physically there with them at the moment,” Still said.

Each morning the kids log into an app called WellCheq. They pick an emoji based on how they're feeling and then rate it on a scale of 1-10. “Kids love emojis,” Still said.

On a difficult day, it's less stressful to use the app for students like fifth-grader Kayleen. “Because sometimes when I tell somebody, I just start crying and I don't want to cry. So sometimes I just put it on WellCheq,” Kayleen said. “They get big feelings and big emotions and maybe they don't know what to do with the feelings they have,” Megan Still said.

She added that younger students can sometimes be shy and afraid to ask for help. “This gives them a chance to kind of look at it and say, okay, what am I feeling? Why am I feeling that way?” she said.

The app allows Still to know when a student needs her, how urgently, and why. “They can also choose to hit the button that says check on me or check on my friend,” she said. It’s anonymous between classmates and peers, but valuable information to a guidance counselor. “That gives me trends on how certain students are doing or the class as a whole. So I can know how to cater lessons or address any issues that we're dealing with,” she said.

Still hopes this will help target issues like bullying. Apps and emojis aside, it all starts with asking for help. “Kids need to be able to have that outlet to express themselves,” Still said.

Still is testing the app out on her 5th graders, but already she's hoping to implement it for all grade levels next year.