Joplin School District Gets $800K Grant
By: Shayla Patrick
Updated: May 25, 2012
JOPLIN, MO - A new grant will help Joplin students recover emotionally from the tornado. Senator Claire McCaskill recently announced an $818,000 grant for the Joplin school district. The money will help fund an initiative to address social, emotional, and mental health issues caused by the disaster.
As part of this initiative, the district will hire and train new staff, and implement counseling programs to help improve student morale. District administrator's say mental health directly impacts a student's performance in school.
"Recovering from such a devastating disaster takes time and their mental health is very important to us," said Lisa Orem, Director of Special Services for Joplin schools. "We find that if children want to stay home instead of coming to school, sometimes their grades will begin to drop," she explained.This money will allow the district to hire a director, a coordinator, five counselors, and three case workers to serve students throughout the upcoming school year.
