Daysi Silvas Ramirez Peer Support Associate • Homeless Education SBCSS

Sierra High School Principal Hector Murrieta hosts the School Health Connection podcast, featuring Daysi Silvas-Ramirez, a peer support associate at the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. Daysi, a recent college graduate and advocate for mental health, shares her experiences as a foster youth and the impact of mental health support during her high school years. She emphasizes the importance of non-judgmental listening and the role of counselors in her life. Daysi advises school personnel to pay attention to high-achieving students who may be overlooked. She also highlights the value of peer support associates and encourages schools to utilize their services.

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Transcript

SPEAKERS

Hector M, Daysi S.

Hector  00:10

 Hello and welcome to episode three of the School Health Connection Podcast. My name is Hector Murrieta`, and I am your host. I am also the proud principal of Sierra High School in the San Bernardino City, Unified School District, a deep and heartfelt thank you to the California School Based Health Alliance and the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools for making this podcast possible. Today. I'm very excited to have with us as a guest, Daysi Silvas Ramirez, she's the Peer Support Associate here at the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. And we're especially excited because she is a guest that is very close in age with the students that many of our listeners service. I know certainly that students that I service. So we're going to get to hear from somebody about her personal experiences. You know, she's a recent graduate, college graduate. She's an advocate for mental health, and she'll be sharing her experiences with school based health and wellness support. Welcome to the show, Daysi. 

Daysi S.  01:13

Thank you. I'm so honored to be here. First and foremost, as you mentioned, I do work with San Bernardino County Superintendent Schools as a Peer Support Associate. And for those who aren't aware what that title necessarily means is that I'm a youth with lived experience, and I go out to schools and I talk to educators peers, basically advocating for our youth and breaking those barriers when it comes to our education. 

Hector  01:41

That's wonderful. So perfect fit for the show Daysi. So you shared a little bit about what you currently, currently do. What if you share for our listeners a little bit a little bit about your high school experience you know your and then get into your recent graduation just so people know a little bit about who Daysi is

Daysi S.  02:01

OK So I grew in and out of the foster system from the ages of 7 till 21 during high school, I was in and out of different schools, transferring a lot of transfers during my high school experience. It's why I am such a big advocate when it comes to mental health. It affected my mental health a lot, and I had a lot of mentors and peers who helped me, but it was a hard transition during high school. Of course, when I graduated, I just recently graduated from the University of La Verne. Congratulations. Thank you. It was a big accomplishment on my end, and again, I really leaned on those counselors, those peer supports, to guide me, especially in college, especially when it came to my mental health

Hector  02:49

That's wonderful well, and you're kind of segueing just naturally into, you know, what we want to know more about, again, from somebody that's, you know, closer in age to a lot of the students we service. So why don't you describe with a little more detail as much as you can, or can remember, just of those mental health supports that you received, whether it was in high school or now closer to your college graduation, but just some of those experiences specifically

Daysi S.  03:18

Okay, I can tag a little bit about my counselors were a big aspect when it came to high school. I, as I mentioned, I was a foster youth, so I had a lot of transitions, and with those transitions, it affected my mental health. I was severely depressed, and those counselors took me under their wing. They would constantly take me out of school. Well, not out of school, out of class. They would do that one on one support. They would check in. They would have quiet time, in a sense, where I was able to call the counselors, and they would take me out of class, and I would just be able to sit in their office and talk or do drawings or different activities where I would just kind of take my what I was doing away my mental health was their most important aspect when it came to me,

Hector  04:09

right? Wow, that's, that's, that's pretty fascinating, because as far as you're aware, did your school at that time have, you know what, what we call or, you know, some people have wellness centers or school based health center. Were you aware of your high school had that? Or do you think it was just more of that's how your counselors approach their work? Or maybe a combination of both.

Daysi S.  04:31

It was probably a combination of both. They really my school, especially the variety of schools that I went to, they relied on the counselors. It wasn't like just one certain wellness program, it was the counselors were there, and they were there for support for all students,

Hector  04:48

right? That's, that's wonderful, and that and I mean, and that's what we're after. What made you feel safe in seeking out those services for for you to actually feel like, okay, I'm gonna go to my counselor. What, what made you feel safe to do that?

Daysi S.  05:02

I think the biggest thing that made me feel safe was that they didn't judge me, and they were just there to listen. I feel like as youths, we can tell when someone is judging us, or if you're your posture or the way you react to certain things that we tell you, it can really affect our trust. And with those counselors that I leaned on when it came to my support, you could tell that they were just there, just to listen to me, not to judge me, anything that came to them when it came telling them about anything, it was more so that they were listening and it wasn't out of judgment. It didn't come out of place of well, I'm criticizing you because you're telling me X, Y and Z, 

Hector  05:45

Wow, a valuable lesson, not only for counselors, but all of us. You know, I'm a current principal. There are teachers on school campus, there are other staff and yeah, although counselors and therapists may have more training in those areas, but it's a good lesson for us. You know, to listen, you know, to really get to know our students. So that's a valuable lesson. Hey, you mentioned several schools. How many high schools did you go to?

Daysi S.  06:09

I went to about five or six different high schools in your entire high school, entire high school career.

Hector  06:16

Yes, amazing. I mean, you truly are a success story. So what advice then, if you were talking to current school personnel, whether they're counselors or not, but what advice would you give them, to them when they're dealing with students that? Because my understanding is you were a high achieving student, typically, those are the students that don't get much attention, you know. Oh, she's got it, you know, Daysi's got it. She's a good student. She's, you know, high grades and things like that. But so what advice would you give school personnel?

Daysi S.  06:52

I think the advice I would give is that we all have this mental checklist where, when it comes to promise youths, where they might be coming to school late, or they're just their grades are low. So in my case, I was a straight A student, I was always the first one to answer those questions. The teachers knew the kind of student I was, and I feel like because of that, they overlooked me a lot of the times. And for me,  I have to advocate for those students who maybe are the most popular, who are in sports and doing phenomenal. It's those students to also pay attention to, because I'm not discrediting you to are having low grades, or are coming to school late, or just you can tell, automatically tell that they are going through a rough time, it's the opposite. I'm advocating for those students as well, but I'm also advocating for our high achieving students, because in my case, I was overlooked because I was a high achieving student. 

Hector  07:53

wow And if you were in high school, how you are now, right now? You're very cheerful. I mean, I know our listeners can't see you, but you smile. You have a beautiful smile. You're very cheerful. So yeah, I can see how easily, if you were like that in high school, how you would have easily been overlooked. So what? So for a student like you that, again, doesn't show any outward signs. What can school personnel look for? You know, to maybe start approaching a student like that. 

Daysi S.  08:25

Yeah, so in my case, as I've mentioned previously, I was a foster youth, so by court, we are identified, but a lot of these cases are McKinney Vento youth, so youth who are experiencing homeless aren't required by law to be identified. It's up to our teachers, our counselors, our principals, to identify those youths. One of the biggest factors for me was those transfers on my record, and also especially during holidays, during breaks students. In my case, I dreaded holidays. I dreaded the breaks in schools, because then I would go home and I would be stuck in that environment. So paying attention to those youths, who you can tell a week before break that they're starting to feel a little bit like dreadful they're not peppy as much as they used to be, those students would be a big eye Awakener for counselors to pay attention to them. 

Hector  09:19

You know what's fascinating about what you just said. And every year I do this, and I recently did it in earlier October, I always send out an email to staff, reminding everyone that, you know, we're coming up on holiday season, and for a lot of us, it is, it's a joyful time. You know, we're looking forward to the holidays and all of those things. But I always remind staff, hey, for a lot of people, it's a very use the word dreadful, and I use the word, you know, for some people, it's sad, it's, you know, it's melancholic, but yeah, so thank you for affirming, you know, because I try to do that every year and just and I tell them, hey, let's pay a little more attention to everyone. Because, yeah,

Daysi S.  10:02

and there are signs you just gotta really dig deep and look. Because for me, it was one case like you mentioned. I'm very peppy. I am very cheerful in school. I was a little bit shy, but I still would always accept and be accepting of others. And one instance was when I came in and I was having struggles at home, and one teacher, he noticed my irritability before the holidays, that was an indicator where he was like, she's never like this. But for me, it was the holidays are coming and I'm going to be stuck at home, and knowing what I was going through, he automatically saw that switch in me, and he directed me to a counselor. 

Hector  10:43

He picked it up. He was observing. He was really observing and listening, really paying attention, I'm sure, to all his students. But in your case, he caught yours. Yes,  That's awesome. So what? So you know, having that in mind, what do you think might help us, schools, school districts, in helping the staff maybe be more aware of these things. Do you think more training might help? I mean, from a student standpoint. Do you think more training might help, or more or just giving teachers more of those and other staff just more of those reminders. What do you think might help?

Daysi S.  11:25

I think all that you mentioned, but also I'm gonna advocate on at least what my branch has done, where it's introducing a peer support associate. We're there to support educators because we know it best. We've lived through it. We understand it. We were those students. We were in those chairs. And what better way to educate someone than to have a youth lived experience? 

Hector  11:51

That's right, and that's why you're on the show today. No, thank you. So if let's say for our listeners out there that might work at a school, a school district or an area that you know, their wellness services aren't, you know, fully developed, and they wanted to make use of the services that your division offers, the peer support associate. How would they go about that? How would they reach out? How does that work?

Daysi S.  12:16

So we have our county, we have our website. There's the Homeless Education, and then in there there's different links. It's under our Children Deserve Success. Padlet link, where that Padlet takes it to a speaker request form, and we it's a simple request form. We fill it out, and it's completely free, and it's a great resources, resource to use. So that's how they would come about. It

Hector  12:44

wonderful. And for our listeners, we'll have those links at the end of the podcast available and what happens? So they fill this out, and then you or one of your colleagues goes out to the school and speaks to a class or to an assembly, or,

Daysi S.  12:58

Yes, that's correct. So there's two peer support associates right now, myself and then Zachary Perez. So one of us would be available, we'd come out, and we kind of tag along and see, first and foremost, what would you like us to speak about? What are the key points that you want us to address? And then we kind of base our lived experience to make sure that everything is being covered that way. We're meeting your expectations, and then vice versa, your meeting. 

Hector  13:26

That's wonderful. And as far as you're aware, if you're aware, do other county offices of Ed have positions similar to yours? 

Daysi S.  13:34

I do not believe so. I believe San Bernardino County was the first one to our previous program coordinator, Brenda Dowdy, was the first one to bring this about, and then now Miss Tyrese Crawford has taken over, and she's continued on this amazing position for our youth.

Hector  13:55

That's wonderful, and we all need to do our part, because it's only a few of you, and we're, you know, we're the largest county, certainly in California, but my understanding is we're the largest county in the nation, so a lot of, a lot of space to cover, and there's a lot of need right now. Wow, that's awesome. Well, and you know, this in this hit squarely on, you know, the big need that I know we're noticing at schools. You know you don't have to be a school employee to know that. Right now, there's a lot of need. So these types of services are not only needed, I mean, they're useful, but they're  needed. Gosh, Daysi, well, I want to thank you for  sharing all your experiences, your expertise. Is there anything else that maybe we didn't cover that. You want to make sure our listeners are aware of anything else you want to share.

Daysi S.  14:46

I think the only thing I would want to share is that somehow, someway, make an impact with these youths. And I always say, if you make just one, it will go a long way, because that, that youth takes it, they. Share it with their friends. They share it with others. It expands. It grows. So make one impact.

Hector  15:06

That's right, one at a time. Well, there's your call to action to all our listeners. You have to encourage get involved. You have to get involved in school wellness initiatives. And like Daysi said, you know, start with one, start with one person, and then that that student will start spreading the word, and then more people will get those services, and we will have more success stories like you Daisy, where you know students that are having a really rough time, even though we can't notice, it doesn't mean it's not there, and we could help somebody become successful like you. Thank you. Thank you for being on the show and  we wish you many blessings to come and you keep you know, keep at it and supporting as many students as you can. Yeah, you're going to be a blessing to many well, to you our listeners. Also want to extend an immense thank you for joining us and sharing this with others. Also, I want to thank all of you that attended the inaugural Inland Empire School Health Symposium on October 4 at the IEHP campus in Rancho Cucamonga. A link to the keynote and other information will follow. Also. You'll also have the links to the department that Daysi shared. So thank you once again, and we'll see you in the next episode of the School Health Connection.