At the latest Valley-Hills Coalition meeting this month, there was discussion of a new program that may be hitting PV in the near future as a part of the “Stigma Free at PV” program that is already in place here at Pascack Valley.

The program is called “Mental Health First Aid Training” and will be a professional development day for teachers at PV to learn about mental illness and the stigmas that may come with their discovery, as well as treatment.

According to Morguerite Deppert, a representative on the coalition, the purpose of this program is to help people recognize the signs of mental illness in others and show them how to become a support system for that person.

Though this program will be set for teachers, the coalition hopes to get parents and teenagers in the community involved with the course.

Mr. Ryan Walter, a history and psychology teacher at PV,  said that he took this course along with three others in Fair Lawn.

“Soon, all the teachers in both buildings [Valley and Hills] will get this training,” Walter said.

Walter also runs the Stigma-Free PV student club, which meets during lunch every other Wednesday. For more information, follow them on Twitter @stigmafreepv.