This toolkit includes communications templates, social media assets, and best practices to share the incredible results from your program's 2022-2023 Impact Report with all your stakeholders!
How To Use This Guide
The Understanding Mental Wellness Virtual Volunteer Toolkit serves as the main resource hub for divisions looking to host a virtual engagement with a school within their division. This resource will house assets and resources to help volunteers prepare and host an event effectively.
Looking for resources about the partnership as a whole? Visit this guide
Getting Started with Classroom Connect
EVERFI offers a feature within the platform that allows teachers to show interest in hosting a virtual event. Once a teacher ‘raises their hand’ on the platform, EVERFI will share information with the Division Lead who will engage volunteers in the communication and execution of the event. Follow these steps and use the corresponding templates to communicate with the teacher and start planning your event.
Here’s how the process works:
- Each HCA Healthcare Division selects a Division Point of Contact and requests EVERFI turn on the Classroom Connect capability
- Event Lead recruits cohort of HCA Healthcare employees to serve as volunteers
- Teacher raises his/her hand on EVERFI’s platform to show interest in an event.
- EVERFI sends the teacher inquiry to the Division POC. Division POC determines whether or not Event Lead is needed, or if Division POC will themselves serve as Event Lead
- Volunteers complete appropriate training on HCA Healthcare Classroom Connect Resource Page
- Event Lead and teacher to schedule a phone call to discuss event logistics
- Event Lead to host call with the teacher and discuss the run of show, event date, technology, and event details with teacher
- Teacher to schedule the event using the preferred school technology platform (ie. Zoom, Google Meet, WebEx, etc.)
- Event Lead to host one pre-event call with volunteers to discuss run of activity and volunteer roles
- Event Lead to schedule pre-event call with teacher the day before event to discuss any last minute details
- Event Lead to send thank you email to teacher post event
- Complete post-event survey
Volunteer Responsibilities
No specific experience is required to serve as an Event Lead or Volunteer. The event activities are designed to be easy to follow regardless of your professional or personal background. An Event Lead will need to be willing to devote more time as they will be coordinating more logistics and will need to manage the volunteers, as well as serve as a volunteer themself. A Volunteer will not need to be responsible for the logistics, but should be someone comfortable joining a video call and interacting with students.
- Division POC: Each Division will have a point of contact that is responsible for serving as the division’s primary contact for Classroom Connect. The Division POC will be contacted by EVERFI each time a Classroom Connect visit is requested. From there, the Division POC will be tasked with evaluating the opportunity and determining who will be the appropriate Event Lead based on the type of activity request.
- Event Lead: The Event Lead will be responsible for reaching out directly to the teacher, understanding the goals of the visit, coordinating logistics, recruiting volunteers and managing the event day of as a moderator and/or participant. The Event Lead can be the same person as the Division POC.
- Volunteers: EVERFI recommends at least one additional volunteer beyond the Event Lead for each event, for a minimum of two live participants from HCA Healthcare. The volunteer is responsible for reviewing the training materials, participating in the live virtual visit, and completing the post-visit survey.
Please watch this video to understand more about Classroom Connect and the roles and responsibilities.
Suggested Email Copy
Use this email template for initial outreach to a teacher once EVERFI has connected your division with the teacher.
Subject: Mental Wellness Virtual Classroom Visit for your Students
Dear [NAME],
Thank you for showing interest in hosting an engagement event with your students!
My name is [INSERT NAME] and I work for the HCA Healthcare’s [DIVISION BRAND NAME] as a [JOB DESCRIPTION]. We are proud to sponsor the Understanding Mental Wellness program in your school and I am excited for my team to spend some time with your students taking a deeper dive into the content covered. I will be your main point of contact for all planning logistics and communications for the virtual classroom visit.
Would you be available for a call [SUGGESTED DATE/TIME] to discuss the logistics and activity for your students:
- Event Date
- Time
- Number of Students
- Identify student ambassadors
- Activity
- Technology
While we are coordinating these logistics, I’ve attached a suggested run of show for you to review ahead of time.
I look forward to hearing from you and to planning this exciting opportunity for your students!
Sincerely,
[NAME]
[TITLE]
Event Assets & Training Materials
3 Tips for Engaging with Students Virtually
Here are some tips about engaging with students that EVERFI has learned from their experience of conducting successful virtual events.
Keep it Brief
We recommend that events are no longer than 45 minutes and, if possible, include transitions (polling, etc.) that allow for two-way engagement to recapture students’ attention.
Make it Personal & Relatable
You may be the first person a student has met from a particular industry or from your career focus area. Share your personal story to expose students to your educational and career path. Feel free to share moments from your youth that helped lead you in the path you took. It may get them thinking about their own!
Enjoy Yourself & Have Fun
Working with students can be fun, thought-provoking, and unpredictable! It’s ok to say, “I’m not sure” if a student asks a question outside of your knowledge area or to joke about technical difficulties. Smile through those moments and be ready to shift topics based on student engagement, feedback, and interest.
Program Background
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Understanding Mental Wellness is the first comprehensive program designed to help educators foster mental wellness in their classrooms and equip students with lifelong mental wellness skills. It is sponsored by HCA Healthcare for all middle and high schools in the geographic footprint (see below) at no cost to the teacher or school.
ABOUT Understanding Mental Wellness
Understanding Mental Wellness takes a population-level approach to what is often seen as an individual issue. Understanding Mental Wellness provides middle and high school students with opportunities to explore their own mental health and identify challenges they may face. The online course is designed to help students develop concrete strategies for managing those challenges, understand the impact of stigma related to mental health, while increasing their awareness of resources and empowering them with the knowledge, skills, and language necessary to identify and support a peer who may be struggling.
The self-paced digital lessons are designed to be easily integrated into any classroom setting. The course content is validated to meet school standards for mental health education and also aligns with the National Health Education Standards (NHES).
ABOUT EVERFI
EVERFI is an international technology company driving social change through education to address the most challenging issues affecting society ranging from financial wellness to prescription drug safety to workplace conduct and other critical topics. Founded in 2008, EVERFI is fueled by its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) community engagement platform and has reached more than 41 million learners globally. Recognized as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2020, EVERFI powers community engagement in a sustained manner to empower individuals and organizations to make an impact within their communities. The Company also convenes Networks to bring together financial institutions, colleges and universities, and some of the largest corporations to leverage insights and connections to drive impact. Some of America’s leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EVERFI investors including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter founder Evan Williams, as well as Advance, Rethink Education and Rethink Impact.