A school counselor from the Lake Forest School District is the state’s 2023 Delaware Behavioral Health Professional of the Year.

Dana Carey of Lake Forest North Elementary School said she makes sure her students know they are loved, cared for, and their basic needs are met.

“I have created positive relationships with my students by making meaningful connections I am a safe adult they can count on to listen to them, help them throughout their day, and be by their side when they need me,” Carey said. “I have sat by students’ sides when they have had to talk to community agencies, I have delivered food to their homes, and I have provided them with clothing and school supplies when their families were not able to do so on their own.”

Secretary of Education Mark Holodick and House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst made the surprise announcement at a statewide banquet honoring the 20 district and charter network behavioral health professionals of the year.

Carey said an initiative close to her heart has been making sure her students have food security. At the beginning of the school year she administered a school-wide assessment of students’ food needs and identified 75 students with food insecurity. She then partnered with the Food Bank of Delaware to set up a backpack site at the school. Each week as students prepare to be out of school for the weekend, the food bank provides the 75 students with two breakfast meals, two lunch meals, drinks and snacks. Carey checks in with the students every week as she delivers the food to them, and she also partners with the Felton United Methodist Church to provide families with additional food in emergencies.

In the fall she organized a school-wide food drive, collecting 1,600 non-perishable items to help stock the food pantries at the church and Lake Forest High School.

“My goal for this project is for my students to understand that we are a school family. We take care of and support each other to the best of our ability,” Carey said.  “In addition, we need to work together to give back to the community the best we can even when at times we struggle ourselves. Providing my students with community service opportunities promotes self-esteem and life satisfaction.”

Lake Forest North Elementary School Principal Erin Dotson called Carey a true leader.

“When Mrs. Carey isn’t handing out school supplies or dispersing food for students to have for the weekend, she is teaching social emotional learning classes, holding social groups and individual sessions with students. I have never met a kinder and more caring person,” Dotson said. “The students are her first priority. If she discovers a need for her students, she will do whatever it takes to assist.”

The Delaware State Behavioral Health Professional of the Year (BHPY) program is administered by the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE). The program recognizes outstanding service by school employees who are health care practitioners or human service providers who offer services for the purpose of improving an individual’s mental health. The Delaware Charter School Network also is invited to participate. Employees considered for the award include:

• School counselors
• School social workers
• Licensed clinical social workers
• School psychologists
• School nurses

From those nominated at a local level, one behavioral health professional of the year moves forward to represent each district or the charter school community in the state program. Each district/charter network winner receives a $2,000 personal award from the winner’s district or charter school. The state program then chooses one person annually to serve as Delaware’s Behavioral Health Professional of the Year. State winners receive an additional $3,000 personal award from DDOE as well as $5,000 to be used for the educational benefit of his or her students.

Learn more about all the 2023 District/Charter Behavioral Health Professionals of the Year here.

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

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