The Upper Cumberland Camera; 1034

You evening and

welcome to the upper Cumberland camera tonight will learn more about mental health as October is mental awareness month We'll find out why firetrucks military vehicles police cars and ambulances were at Parkview elementary school We'll see a promotional tape the staff of W CTE TV worked on for TTU's College of Engineering And we'll find out about a play written and performed by Monterey high school students, but first this story Tuesday was a big day for Tennessee Technological University and those students that are going to be first -generation students at the university The Coca -Cola Foundation yesterday issued a challenge to alumni and friends to help establish an endowment To provide scholarships for first -generation college students over the next two years The foundation will match gifts that Tennessee Tech receives for the Coca -Cola challenge on a one -to -two basis The Foundation's match of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars combined with the university's fundraising efforts will allow the university to raise up to $450

,000 a Press conference was held on Tuesday to explain the challenge about a month ago We launched our first university -wide capital campaign to raise $15 million The campaign which we have called sharing division addresses four crucial needs Seven and a half million dollars will be raised for scholarships Three million dollars for instructional improvement and faculty renewal three million dollars for dormitory renovations and One and a half million dollars for major equipment purchases 50 % of the funds we raise during this five -year capital campaign will go to student scholarships One of the greatest challenges that we face at this time is ensuring and enhancing the future of Tennessee Tech Ensuring and enhancing our reputation as one of the finest academic institutions in the southeast But in order to guarantee a bright future for the university, we must be aggressive We must be innovative and we must be productive and we must be attentive to both the

institution's needs and those of our customers the students of Tennessee Tech Many of whom are struggling to afford college Today we're ready to meet this challenge and take Tennessee Tech to an even higher level of excellence And it gives me great pleasure along these lines to turn to podium over to mr. Donald Green President of the Coca -Cola Foundation, Mr. Green Thank you very much Angelo I'm indeed very pleased to be with you today and thank you for the very warm reception We have just flown in from Atlanta a little equipment difficulty, but here we are on time It is great to return the visit you gave us this past spring at our corporate headquarters in Atlanta When I say that I'm going to visit the Tech campus usually my associates figure. I'll be back in just about an hour Little did they know this time? didn't walk across the street to Georgia Tech that other tech But instead I've come to a very special place Tennessee Tech I've learned from Angelo that it this is indeed a very special place nestled

here in the upper Cumberland reaching out toward Nashville reaching out toward Knoxville and to Chattanooga and It's a special place because it's a board of regents system school It's also a very special place because the graduates here lead fortune 500 companies our tops in the medical Professions have helped launch space shuttles and are just well educated folks Your campaign share the vision captures the essence of why our foundation has chosen to be your partner in providing scholarships for first generation college students We decided back in 1989 to make supportive education the priority of our philanthropic focus at the Coca -Cola company and Why are we doing this? It's simply because a community which nurtures quality education is a community in which business enterprises thrive And it's because the social and economic threads of community

life are very real and very interwoven The environment in which we live and work today grows ever smaller the global village is indeed here So Angelo and Harry. I'm here to offer you the Coca -Cola challenge Together we can make it possible for young people in the upper Cumberland from families where no one has gone to college We can make it possible for that dream to become a reality We are pleased to further encourage you. I dare say challenge you To create a scholarship fund to assist these students to become first -generation Scholar college students with much needed financial support So over the next two years for each two dollars that you raise We will put in one dollar until together. We have created a scholarship fund totaling $450 ,000 Together we can make quality education possible for many

and Together we can help the next generation here at home be better equipped citizens in our global village So let's realize the vision together, and I know that we will thank you very much for letting us offer you the challenge You know, it's really Jim Arnett and Steve Lynn president and CEO of Sonic who couldn't be with us today as was previously mentioned that played a real pivotal role and Bringing us announcement about today Jim and Steve or Tennessee Tech alums But most of all through their companies Chonies and Sonic they're very large customers of Coca -Cola and as such They provided access an introduction to the foundation which gave us an opportunity But that opportunity is not enough. It meant that dr. Volpe Martin medley Had to go down and do some work and Talking with Coca -Cola about the idea

of scholarships for first -generation students Dr. Volpe Martin medley you did very very well Any questions Dona Yes, it is we have offered Scholarship programs from our foundation to a number of higher educational institutions But this is the first time that we have directed the funds specifically for first -generation students And we're very pleased to do so we've had other kinds of challenges with other institutions, but not like this one. It's very special I Have another question what impressed you about Tennessee Tech and made you want to give this a scholarship to the university a Number of factors were impressive about Tennessee Tech first of all

that they made a call on us And as mr. Stone cipher has already indicated we had very two Two great persons to introduce us to Tennessee Tech and Jim Arnett and Steve land We were very appreciative of their coming to Atlanta to tell us the story of Tennessee Tech So they were on a missionary assignment, but once we heard the story We were convinced from the beginning that Tennessee Tech is an institution worthy of support from our foundation We are centering all of our philanthropic activity on education and trying to provide Opportunities just to give persons people a chance in Education and that's what we found here the figure of 60 percent of the student body of first -generation college students is very impressive When you hear about the lone default rate of being I believe 2 .2 percent very very small in terms of national averages That's very impressive when you see if you have three major engineering centers of excellence here on one campus That's very impressive.

This is a campus where coca -cola needs to be very active and supportive of students Any other questions or comments Oh, we thank you very much for coming and again Since we're doing commercials there's a great friend of ours now in the coca -cola business our polar bear You go to see a lot more of this warm cuddly little fellow as we move ahead in the next few months going into winter time Well, he's not a wintertime person person. guess it is. We can personify this little creature You'll see him a lot. So let me give you another gift from coca -cola our friend. He's always cool And in a related story from Tennessee Technological University, there may be more engineering students in the future Tech's Department of Engineering recently asked the staff of WCT e TV to produce a video Which is to be put on laser discs and made available for high school students to view across the country?

We thought upper cumberland camera viewers might be interested in seeing the video as well Ready Studying engineering at Tennessee Technological University can be an exciting experience building human -powered submarines mini Baja cars Concrete canoes and seeker cars are just some of the extracurricular activities engineering students can participate in a TTU Tech located in the upper Cumberland region of Tennessee is a well -known and nationally accredited engineering school Located in Cookville a town of about 25 ,000 people It is halfway between Knoxville and Nashville on interstate 40 There are six beautiful state parks within an hour's drive and Burgess Falls a state natural area is Located about six miles from the campus leisure activities

abound in the Cookville area a Typical small southern town Cookville has been named America's most affordable city to live in Students will find off -campus housing food and recreational activities less expensive here than in any other city in the country According to USA Today Several small industries are located here in the hub of the upper Cumberland and Managers utilize the various engineering departments at Tech to help with problem -solving and industrial design TTU is a small comprehensive university of about 8 ,000 students There are 48 different undergraduate degrees granted and graduate programs are offered in the arts and sciences business education and engineering There's a wide range of varsity athletic programs a member of the Ohio Valley Conference Tech's athletes compete on a national level Students who are not necessarily competitive athletes, but who are interested in physical fitness may also want to take advantage of the student fitness center Built with student fees. This center is designated for student use only The

College of Engineering with over 2 ,000 students is the largest college within the university Degrees in civil chemical electrical industrial and mechanical engineering are all accredited by the engineering accreditation Commission of the accreditation board for engineering and technology or ABET Tech's College of Engineering is also the only college in Tennessee with three state -supported centers of excellence The electric power manufacturing and water resources centers bring about $3 .5 million of additional state funding into the college each year These centers provide excellent resources for both masters and doctoral students One of the most interesting recent research projects now being conducted involves lightning The College of Engineering also offers special programs for outstanding high school juniors and seniors Even though there is a strong emphasis on academics, there is time for fun Many engineering students participate in several

different design contests with other schools and organizations The civil engineers design and race a concrete canoe the electrical engineers design and participate in a seeking car competition Mechanical engineers are involved with both the mini Baja and human -powered submarine competitions Building these are excellent opportunities for students to apply design theories. They are learning in the classroom The bachelor's program starts in the basic engineering department with all students taking a core of courses Needed to prepare them for transfer to a degree granting department during your freshman year You will learn engineering graphics using Sunspark one workstations Currently tech engineering freshmen are the only students in the country allowed to study 3d solids modeling during the first year After advancing to a degree granting department You will study in small classes under nationally known professors and have access to excellent facilities and laboratories The TTU faculty support the co -op program which allows students to alternate between

school and work assignments You will work with some of the largest industries in the country and many companies now attempt to hire only graduates who have had co -op Experience the graduation rate in engineering at tech exceeds the national average Normally about 44 % of basic engineering students graduate in engineering Industry often seeks tech graduates and preference to those from other larger engineering schools Not only are we trying to promote the company, but we're trying to see what kind of Potential that we have here from Tennessee Tech a number of the graduates that we've hired in the past have done so well in the company That we tend to want to come back and get more Just as simple as I can put it Take the opportunity to obtain a quality engineering education at an affordable cost Contact TTU today It started out as a nice quiet fall day at Parkview Elementary in Cookville But it wasn't long before the sounds of silence were broken I Guess you haven't lived till you've experienced a

kindergarten community helpers day. It was wonderful The kids look forward to it. There's a great deal of preparation goes into the program and the crowning glory is Having all of the community helpers come to the school, but then the parade Is something they will know forever It was wonderful Sandra Coswara principal of Parkview Elementary along with Sharon Loon Kindergarten teacher and coordinator of the event took part in the parade high on top of the National Guard vehicle But the tank that was a classic it's kind of Like the Rose Bowl parade, you know just rumbling down the road and the kids down underneath we're having a ball They were having a ball, but that's as close as to a tank as I've ever been Wait a minute. That's as close to a tank as I've ever been I guess in it and on it really was pretty close and I had a bit fun. was fun The kids just they loved it. They loved

it teachers put this all together. I mean it becomes a highlight yearly a highlight and I have to share one thing the first year they ever had this They failed to notify the radio and the Well, they failed to notify the community is what happened and all of a sudden the parade starts and there are these sirens And there goes the ambulance and someone in the neighborhood called and said, you know, there's an emergency at Parkview And so what happened is the bus transportation supervisor sent all the buses to evacuate the children So we have learned over the years that we We we plan ahead we call ahead so we had it on we had it all over plastered all over the community this year So that was oh, yes, a hoot Although this program is a fun experience the message is one of great importance This is an intense Study of strangers we can trust for kindergarten students If you've ever tried to talk to a five -year -old

and they will not talk to you at all You know how difficult it is to get information out and there are times that they need to talk to people and as a parent We always tell them don't talk to strangers But we want to introduce some strangers that they can talk to and we want to identify their uniforms So we really zero in on their uniforms and what those look like and compare their uniforms to somebody else's and like the police So so for example Monday We had a very intense program with the cool city police and they brought McGruff and they did a segment on Situations that they might feel uncomfortable with and how they would handle them. They also model their uniform and talked to him about that Tuesday, um, we had fireman bruise and he talked to them about safety And he went through with every kindergarten child on a very small close in a classroom Wednesday the Putnam County Sheriff's Department came and did a unit on drugs saying noted drugs and that sort of thing and talking to them Really down on their level showed some film strips about it and everything and then Today is the big day

today's the day that they've met these three people Now they're going to be compared with all these others. We had uh, our policeman was back doing Handprinting our deputies were back showing a drug thing and giving out balloons and all that and talking to them or reviewing what they'd already talked about We have a tennessee highway patrolman That's coming that's going to talk to him about car safety and model his uniform We have fireman bruise back to review what he talked with them about We have the national guard coming to talk to them about when they might see them And what kind of vehicles they drive what their uniforms look like the forest rangers are there Should they ever get lost in the forest? They'll know You know, they'll know what they look like They're okay to talk to and then the ambulance came because many times children are have have to be taken to the hospital And it's a frightening situation So they get to get in the ambulance and look at it and And talk to those people as well And that's they rotate around and visit all those people and then at the very end We all have a big parade And we all ride and in something

and and every child gets to ride in some vehicle with the lights and sirens going And we just do that until everybody's ridden in something We block off the road and have a good time and that's their favorite part Tell me about what you saw today I saw a tank and a fire truck And ambulance And I sit down and got a good guy princess And saw some army tanks and got around in it and played on that fire truck like rain And I think that's all I saw Well, what did you learn you've been learning about all these people in uniform? learn about officer craven and Fireman Bruce and policemen And learn that about if you've lost to down 9 -1 -1 Are they okay and if you're hurt down 9 -1 -1 Are these people your friend? Mm -hmm, if you need help you could go to any of these

people in uniform That's great Are you gonna go and help your mom and dad learn all these important things? Okay, have a good time today you're going in the parade Before the parade students went through different centers featuring each one of the community helpers What's been your favorite thing you've seen so far Tank How come? because It's made in it And what are you learning from today? What what's everybody telling you about smoky bear and all that? Are you learning to trust people in uniform that the and what their uniforms mean? um If they don't have um army men they have their um um Pants stuck down in their um shoes That means they're army men Oh, okay What I was

letting the children inside be aware of was our uniform how we wear a uniform How you can distinguish military personnel from hunters in the woods? A lot of personnel like to wear this type of uniform when they're hunting which is a real comfortable uniform Uh, I showed them about the unit patches how they can identify the unit patches I also explained to them that military personnel above the pockets Have the title u .s. Army for army personnel and on the right hand side. It has their last name And I told them, you know, if they see a person walking around with a camouflage uniform before they approach that individual First of all observe the individual make sure, you know, they has patches on his uniform You'll make sure he has rank on his collar each one of us where I rank on her collar and our hats have the same rank Their collar does Also explain to the person the individuals, you know that we blouse our boots a lot people stick the boots in Or pants in their boots when we blouse ours and a lot of the hunters They'll just let the pants hang down to their ankles And I just let them be aware of our type of uniform and how they can distinguish between a military personnel and a hunter How important do you think an event like this is at a school?

In my opinion, it's it's very worthwhile because the children get to see that Just because we're wearing a uniform and that we drive big engines and different equipment that we're still nice gas Uh, they They learn to trust us and I think that's so important today For the kids to be able to trust somebody With authority It's also important that they get the message, you know on fire safety and they started a young age Because uh Be truthful Unless we change the way The people are thinking we're going to continue with uh Having a fire problem in this country every year across this nation thousands of people die if we can change the attitudes Then we can change that problem starting with the children and working up. It has a very good impact on our uh situation Well, we we tried to uh to tell them that we were their friends and and that their uniform And

what I was doing specifically was I was doing a ID handprint and uh Explained to them what that was for uh that they were going to take it home and their parents were going to keep that And uh, and if they ever went missing that they could use that to help find them Mokie Berry will be having a birthday here pretty soon. Uh, they're going to have a national Uh birthday for him celebration starting uh in october and he will be turning 50 year old Oh, okay Now I heard you When I was walking by I heard you say something to one of the students about Hugging the tree and what to do if you got lost. Can you tell us about that? Okay, this is a new program. It's coming down to it's coming down for us You know as as the firemen say if you close catch on fire You know when they tell the kids to stop drop and roll the old saying is Well our saying is and as I tell the little kids that ranger jim says if you get lost in the forest Stop and hug a tree Well, why do you hug a tree? Well, this is

because this will give somebody time to find you I wanted to stretch to them My uniform and my department so they can recognize us We have a number of law enforcement agencies that they may come in contact with the city police Sheriff department and me with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and uh We was notified by the school to Come here and tell them about our uniforms and My job and my duties and I was stressing to them the importance of the seatbelt laws and my job On the highway to enforce the state laws and traffic laws And the accident scenes we may come in contact with How important do you think this is for children? I was very important For me is for two reasons my job to enforce the law and number two I have a daughter here in kindergarten And I believe that it's important for her and other kids to recognize the uniforms or people they can trust The growing number of Kidnapping kids getting lost Someone they can get in contact with they

see and To stress Help to get them help. I was more or less going back over with what we had covered yesterday in the classroom We covered a lot of the alcohol and the drug concept of it We brought in uh samples of each uh to be able to show the students exactly what it is and what it looks like And mainly what to stay away from out on the street And do you think this is a really good thing to do? Absolutely, uh in the past years that I have uh helped with this I've had students that even in the fourth fifth sixth grade come back to me And even out here on the street on a daily basis uh working recs and such as this I've had students walk up to me and say well, you're such and I remember you from my kindergarten days wow That's very important and and do you think that they can you're talking about substance abuse and stuff? Can a kindergarten child really? Grasp that Absolutely, uh, I think whenever you get to them as young as they are, uh, that is something that uh When they look at us what they look at us as an important figure of the community And we try to become their friend instead

of their enemy A lot of the parents nowadays, uh, we come in concept with people that say Well, if you don't mind me, we'll have him put you in jail We don't like that sort of thing and we try our best to make friends with everyone we come in contact with And as young as they are I feel like that that stays with them throughout the years Tina francis is one of five kindergarten teachers at park view elementary We spent a lot of time telling our children to be aware of strangers And we decided that it was important that they learned that there are strangers they can trust And so we made um had visitors in our classroom to let them identify their uniforms What to look for if the child needed help who we could turn to for help that there are some strangers we could trust And and so is this sort of a culmination and did you think the the children really enjoyed this today? The children loved it the I loved it. The teachers were excited too. The kids just love it. Um tomorrow is really uh at the end of our unit And we're going to be visiting the justice center and the fire station. So yeah, the kids love it It's

really the most memorable thing of kindergarten the highlight of the year I just feel like children learn better When they're hands on and it's fun and they don't realize they're learning I hope they go home today and say we didn't do anything today But play and have a great time and we met all these people and we did all this and they've learned and they didn't even know it And that's what's important if they can do they don't have to have a pencil and piece of paper in their hand all the time all the teachers we all get together and and Make contributions to this. It's not just just me. We have artwork that we do and we have different different things We all have suggestions about what we think might work and might not work Why do you think this is important for a student that young? Uh I guess I would say society is is dealing us some harsh realities right now And uh, it really is in Well, the interest of the school and for the the student and for the community at large is that kids have to know the who's the what's and the where's and uh You know, I remember years

ago. We used to teach just about officer friendly the policemen but now Things have expanded so much that uh, you know, we have to be aware and we have to be very cautious And this is just something that you know, even as adults know That's uh, you know, you've got to start even younger than this To to bring children on board Putnam county superintendent mark gentry was on hand to take part in this exciting school project It's a wonderful program Introducing each kid to or each student I should say to the different facets of what goes on in that department and I think the whole object is to let the students know Who that they who they can trust that's the whole crux of the situation um And they did they're coming up culminating a week -long unit and study Of this particular issue and I think they're going to get to go for rides in the fire engines in a tank the national guards here The ambulance service It's it's

amazing from the stories that you see on television How young these students are that that can pick up in dollar nine one one Um I know I taught kindergarteners and you don't have to treat them like a child at all They can understand everything you say and they know what you mean So they're very heady for a you know, be five and six years old And I guess it makes you feel good to have one of your teachers go to the extra effort to plan something like this Well, it's made all our teachers in this county are wonderful. They they do different things in different schools. Um miss lune has put this on and it she has done a wonderful job Along with the kindergarten staff and and the schools. Um administration here. Uh, mr. Lewis and miss coswalk They all do an excellent job and this goes on in all our schools Although drama has always been an important part of the curriculum at monterey high school It's not every day that the students not only get to act in a play They get to write it too The production that they'll put on this

sunday is an original written by the class that is now going to perform the play We talk to their teacher peggy mcleod about the experiment Peggy, I understand that the drama that you're doing this weekend is an original one Yes, it is. We uh, took a diary that was left by an aunt of mine when she was, uh 12 years old and she was in the eighth grade in california And well, it's really not a diary but a friendship book and this is it and so the play is based on this friendship book So we gave the students the friendship book and then they worked together to build the play around it How could you do that? That's a good question Well, it was a little bit difficult to get started to see exactly what focus we wanted to have on the The entire production and when we decided on the focus it really took the students just about a week We uh looked at the friendship book. We also visited the cemetery where she is now buried

We looked at pictures of her And that seemed to inspire the students Now did you study about her life so that you would in in addition to looking at the friendship book so that you had something to base it on Well, we really didn't know very much about her life. In fact, she's my mother's youngest sister and she Um was dead before I was born so I never really met her And so we really didn't know very much. It was just limited. So we pulled details from the friendship book How did you decide to do this to write an original play just instead of going out and getting one that they've done for years and years Well, I attended the arts academy in nashville this summer And one of the classes that we had was on play production and actually writing the scripts And the emphasis was that the students would become more involved in it if it was theirs If the script was truly something that they had worked on from the very beginning And so I got the idea at that

time and it seems to have worked because I've had very dedicated students They've done a great job February the 11th 1928 Ocean View Grammar School Ocean View, California Some right for pleasure some right for fame Please write a verse and find your name Dear Alice when you go courting it's all sugar pie when you marry it's red hogger die your loving sis mary albert borns Little sis, I once did love you and I love you still I love you now and I always will your sister forever lies in both barns Dear sis roses are red violets are blue. I pity the man that marries you your brother buddy barns

Dear Alice if I have not been a friend kind of true, please forgive me and start anew your friend and schoolmate Alberta shimmer remember friday night after church all All of the students behind me helped write the play They worked together here at school during drama and then also one saturday we met at my house And that's when we visited the graveyard and uh, and we worked on it at that time and finalized it It is still being worked on just a little bit as we're practicing for the the play on sunday We are making little changes as we go along in the script Sometimes when we were actually working on the script, uh there were some minor skirmishes, but We're able to work them out all the students know each other real well and we would debate And decide which way we wanted to go with it And I think that it helped rather than hinder to have this many people with More input than I think we have a greater output

as far as the production is concerned Did you enjoy working on the script? Yeah, it was fun just to get it was all right here at school But it was more fun. I think we really got to know what we were doing when we went to mr Gopalus's house move is to the grave It just sort of brought it home to what we were actually doing How did you enjoy writing the play? I enjoyed Getting to read the friendship book. It was really unusual And a lot of the entries in the book were really cute things that we wouldn't think of today I really enjoyed it Now did you try to go back and from the point of view that you were like in eighth grade? No, I I kind of tried to go back like I was in the 20s because some of the stuff you I had never heard before and you just try to picture that you would say those things to your friend Wendy, how did you enjoy working on this script? I liked it very much It was really hectic because there are so many deadlines and everything but once he came together it was really great I

enjoyed working with everybody The one thing that I don't understand is how did you Get to know what you wanted to do on stage just going from a little book Um, we had several ideas. We had to just collaborate everything and uh, we tried everything and uh, this What we're doing now is uh, the best thing we came up with I think everybody should come and see it because even though the length is going to be short It's not going to be a very long play. It is a one act play, but The people who do come and see it are going to be left with something to think about for a while So that just sort of goes to show that it's not always the length of the play. It's the content Tangers classmates family and friends we're gathered here today Now what is the name

of the production and when is it going to be performed? It's called reflections of dora alice and it will be performed for the public at 2 p .m On sunday admission is just two dollars. We'll also do a production on monday for our student body Well, i'm just very proud of the students and their work on this production And I really encourage the public to come out. In fact, they're probably uh, many people in cookville Who know the barns family and uh, would know of dora alice So here in this area in the upper cumberland as you know becky, there's still a A cloud over mental illness people do not understand Mental illness they seem to get the old state

hospital concept and They are not aware that So many Americans walk around every day with with mental illness things like depression anxiety panic attacks Things bother people that are and the people are still functional, but they're still bothered mental illness awareness weak Just legitimizes i think some of the things that that we have going on This week has been designated as mental illness awareness week throughout the nation The upper cumberland alliance for the mentally ill have been working hard for this week with hopes that members of the community will take notice Of this important health issue Tonight on upper cumberland camera. We feature the first of a two -part series on mental illness Linda Thornton a member of the upper cumberland alliance is a psychiatric nurse with 20 years experience And also has extended family members who live with the disease Well, I think it's important that we Set a set of

time as we do other things that people can Just realize that there are many many instances of mental illness and health care is being affected And we need to be aware of it and as part of the new plans that are coming out in health care I think we just need to Be aware that it is part of our overall health care plan and we need to include it in our Plans and what we're looking about, you know for the future. It's just so very common mental illness is very common And it's we hope to just increase people's awareness of that the many many people that are mentally ill How important is amy? Which is the alliance group how important is that to a community and to family members and and consumers? Well, it started about 30 years ago and of course it was important then but it's becoming more and more important In view of our health changes In view of some of the things that are happening at the state level We're

involving the community more and A lot is being dealt back to the communities About health care mental health care And they're really trying to put a good part of the mental health care back into the community So as part of that community, we I think are going to be more important consumers Are welcome families are welcome But we try to encourage people to become involved and active in the community And I think it's becoming more and more important and the state people The providers locally are going to be looking to us to help them with that Mental illness has had a stigma and that's something I know nationally that the alliance has really tried to work with and combat What are your feelings on that? I I think there has been a stigma I'm hoping That that is decreasing because I think that is

definitely true But we're finding more and more that there is real reason to think that mental illness is a brain disorder And we're coming out with new drugs and I think And hope that more of the public is Seeing mental illness is a as a true physical disorder true problem with the functioning of the brain And as that comes about, I think the stigma Will become less and less, but I think that has been very true and Some communities are a little bit further along than others But I think that's part of our job as the alliance To help the community learn that you know that to get rid of the stigma and not to see these people as abnormally different, you know and To be treated as human beings with real needs and part of the community Medicines have been phenomenal, haven't they? I mean there's that's been a tremendous change and and uh Treating mental illness right that really has because

You know when you think about it some of the drugs that we first started to treat mental illness really came about in the 50s Thorazine, you know one of our classic mental health drugs Really was developed in the 50s. So, you know, that's not that long ago And so we just now we're just seem to be on the beginning of new medicines, you know prozac Closerelle all the new medicines that are coming out. I think it's a very exciting time to work in mental health Because there's much more being done treatment. There's absolutely no reason People should not seek care because there's a lot of improvements that can be made Um, there is help more so than ever and I think it's really exciting to be aware of the drugs and go to some of the They workshops and here are some of the things that are being done with the medicines are really very exciting And it's it's a more hopeful time for families The upper cumberland area is fortunate to have several mental health facilities Carol Lovell is the program director for the Laurel Center

The Laurel Center is located in Kootenaw Hospital. We are A separate part located on the fifth floor of the hospital We are separate in that our patients are maintained Confidentially, they are not a part of the regular hospital roster If you call in the hospital and ask for someone who's in the Laurel Center, they do not have the names to give out So it's separate in that way Where we have 34 beds We have uh inpatient psychiatric care We treat both chronic And more acute Psychiatric illnesses. have two separate units for that. We also have a Alcohol and drug unit In addition to that We are primarily inpatient We do aftercare and follow -up as a part of that service Who do you service here at the Laurel Center? We have a lot of Putnam County people who use this facility But we have people come from

all 15 of the upper cumberland counties We've had people from Kentucky Several people from Nashville But most of our patients are right here in this area and we definitely encourage people to Be treated in their own area. There's reasons for that and we we Always ask questions if we take people from another area What what's an advantage to being treated in your own area? Because once you are treated in this hospital in this area You're free for two years to come back for free counseling sessions aftercare meetings There's a lot of follow -up things available here that are at no charge that you begin to work out while you're in treatment And that's true generally most everywhere Every community has its own resources and facilities and and allows their patients to come back for groups and that sort of thing The mental illnesses that we treat We treat a lot of chronic problems

such as schizophrenia bipolar disorder on our chronic Unit and we also treat a lot of adjustment disorders. We have Adjustment disorders due to marital problems adjustment disorder due to empty nest syndrome adjustment disorder due to Move or a job change all kinds of Things like that. I think on our psych unit the the most common problem we treat is depression We which is a mood disorder. We treat both major depression and manic depression Which are two pretty distinct kinds of illnesses Now mental illness is no respecter of age or gender or anything, is it? It absolutely is not Becky it it affects everybody It affects us at times more vulnerable many times the the kind that That you and I might experience

The major depressions the anxiety disorders those kinds of things Depend a lot on the amount of stressors That are in your life if you have what we call three or four major things happen within a year. You're much more vulnerable to go through Some type of of mental illness If you have everything going your way for a while then you're not as apt to do that physical illness is a major stressor and brings on a lot of Behavioral health problems as well That's why I like being here at the hospital because we can always check out and see if there's anything else going on Do you think people are more accepting of help now? Generally, I think we're beginning to get there. It's uh, it's a long way from the Cloud of mental illness that we used to to

have our state hospital concept to Understanding that one in four Americans are probably going to suffer from some form of mental illness Within within the lifetime So and and that is a mental illness that interferes with life functioning Which it either interferes with work Relationships are some significant area of a person's life. That's a high statistic very high But people don't realize it's almost like People have a cold sometimes. Do you ever wonder if it's time to go the doctor? You can drag and drag well sometimes that happens with depression or anxiety people think well I'm not bad enough to get any help and and it'll drag on and sometimes become worse with Um, mental illness is extremely treatable. Depression is very treatable. So is anxiety Most most of the things that really bother us are so treatable just a little Therapy a little probably a little medication at times

to to get you through And then they can resume a normal life the way they've experienced it before right right and and people are resistant sometimes because they say my life is Is really bad because of this or that circumstance But sometimes we get so Spiraled down with the circumstance that our coping mechanisms kind of get reduced as well And so we can't always change circumstances But many times we can strengthen the skills that you have to do to deal with it And I really feel the strength of the program here are our group therapy sessions We have group psychotherapy sessions where patients talk with each other about their feelings and one of the most scary things about mental illness or our Behavioral health problems in general as you feel so alone And so when you can get together with people who have the same feelings Some of the same issues But a lot of the same feelings the scared

Feelings the sometimes the unexplained rage feelings Just all kinds of things that are issues and talk about it as a group with guided Therapy within that it's it's extremely fast It gets people Feelings out in the open and they they deal with it. They feel a bond with people And and they begin to go on and and allow themselves to develop the coping skills that they need We we really want success in our patients and we want brief length of stay we concentrate on brief treatment Which our average length of stay is 8 .9 days And I'm very proud of that because when I when we started here, it was like 13 days So we're getting it down. getting people better faster Like we're being more effective in what we're doing Serving people with mental illness on a regional basis is plateau mental health

center The system covers 13 counties and has centers located in cookville, macmendville, livingston, crossville and lafayette Over 3 000 people in the upper cumberland area are currently being served by them Ann brooks is the director of the plateau mental health center located in cookville. We have It seems like we've boomed lately. We have all of those new programs. We have A housing developer that works with us that tries to link people up with housing opportunities We have a job developer and a job coach that have just recently come online and Their purpose is to work within the community to find job placements for our consumers that Can and wish to work and the job coach goes with them sometimes and helps them do the job if necessary and kind of liaisons with the businesses Are there other things happening at plateau? There are lots of things we have The mobile crisis team

which we've had now for approximately About nine months It started into december beginning of january And we have the capability with that program of sending teams out to crisis situations at hospitals or jails Wherever this situation might be and deal with the situation right then and there We primarily are responding In the three county area that cookville covers pottenham white and de cab However, we're putting in place the ability to go to other locations like Cumberland county or some of the other making county smith county jackson county. We're setting up Arrangements with professionals in those areas to help us cover If we needed to get called out in those situations Plateau and other mental health care facilities will undergo some changes with tennessee's master plan for mental health Which is now being implemented

The master plan is an effort on the part of the state to Streamline and make more efficient all of the mental health services and it came About prior to all of the managed care 10 care sorts of things. So it's uh, it's apart from that Basically, it's the the plan that the state has to improve community support services Make services more available to the consumers in the community as opposed to in The state hospital and to reduce The bed utilization and to make the services and the supports in the community to be able to keep the Clients out of the hospital and provide and improve the quality of life As well as including family members in the decision making and the consumers in the decision making So there'll be an emphasis on outpatient care, right? Outpatient care and Actually even more community based than that in terms of Previously all outpatient care

was center -based or in the office. You had to come to the office to get the services Well, these new initiatives take the treatment out of the office and bring them right into the community into the home Where the the consumers are and where the services are needed How great is the need for mental health centers? I think the need is very big. Um It seems like we deal Quite heavily with the after effects of situations people in crisis trying to kind of pick up the pieces after there's been a problem I'd love to see the day when we would have enough resources available to provide services to people before things become a crisis before kind of the preventative aspect of mental health because mental health is such a broad term and mental illness is such a broad term and It's everything from someone having a situational difficulty to

someone with a diagnosed mental illness that needs constant treatment and everything in between so it's something that affects everybody and i'm sure If anybody took a look at their life and the people they know or family members They'd find somebody that would have met that criteria at one point or another. It's it's that broad I would want people to know that mental illness can strike anybody at any time just like any other Illness that's what it is. It's it's a disease and they're learning more and more all the time about You know what causes mental illnesses And that mental health is something everybody needs to be concerned with because we all go through crisis in our lives and difficult situations and there's uh, nothing to say that You know any one of us couldn't need the services of a therapist or a counselor or a psychiatrist at some point in our life due to The things we don't always have control over. So it's something that's that's real and

and Can affect anybody at any time. So I'd like to see people be compassionate about it and and to try and Not be afraid of mentally ill people or people that they they think might be receiving services because they're just like everybody else They really are they're just like you and me Well, I think One thing you can do is get involved With the changes that are going on be aware of what's happening In our mental health system, you know, find out what the master plan is which is by the way being enacted and by and it's fairly new but this People frequently do not know what that is but get involved find out what that means and Just learn about what's going going on because there it's going to be changes in the community And before things happen and you're not aware of it I think it's good to learn about Changes that are going to be made and also I think with

your neighbors and people that you socialize with to try to Teach people to be accepting of people with mental illness, you know, they're not They're different in some ways, but we are all needy and they are a very needy population and have some special needs But they can come back to the community and they can lead productive lives The upper criminal alliance for the mentally ill meets the third tuesday of each month in the lower level of the putnam county library All interested persons are encouraged to attend for more information on the laurel center call 528 h o p e And for more information on the plateau mental health center call 432 4123 Next week on upper cumberland camera will continue our focus on mental illness as we visit the generations unit in white county specializing in treatment for patients 55 and older When

I first brought him in here, I was having to pull him up out of chair for him and had to help him to walk And when he left here, he could get up and go watch tv get up and go eat his food yourself And uh, it was all together a different person And he tells me he loves me more today than he ever did in his life And right now so pepped up just I don't ever see just for a minute. I was so Pepped up with her love and beauty I take her breakfast to her every morning Shell and raisins and milk and peaches and said bananas angel baby honey. Do you love me? Oh, yes I love you so much. I'm the happiest I've ever been and we're close together wherever been. I was lovely all before I come in here And we'll feature a story on the october fest held in cookville You Both of those stories and more will be

featured next week on uppercumberland camera