Chicago, Ill., September 6, 2022 – Erika's Lighthouse and School Day announced a partnership today to collaborate and cross-promote their resources to promote a culture of positive mental health and well-being among students in grades 4-12. Erika's Lighthouse is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating and raising awareness about adolescent depression, encouraging good mental health and addressing, and ultimately, eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health issues. School Day is a well-being tool and analytics company founded in Finland that combines kindness with unique AI to deliver pedagogical support that improves social-emotional learning and well-being. School partners of Erika's Lighthouse and School Day will have access to resources from each organization to promote an inclusive school culture around positive mental health and well-being.

School Day offers classroom teachers the opportunity to measure their students' well-being through weekly surveys, which students can answer anonymously. The research-based questions provide students an opportunity to easily express how they are feeling and allow teachers to receive actionable data to track the progress of their class.

School Day has pre-determined sets of questions focusing on learning, social and emotional skills, social relationships, and wellness. After answers are submitted, the School Day platform automatically calculates scores for the whole class and provides:

• Two weekly highlights for the teacher – one being the lowest scoring question and the other being the highest scoring question. Included in the highlights is a short explanation for why the topic is important and discussion support so that the teacher feels comfortable going through the topic with the class
• One monthly focus area for the teacher, which includes a lesson plan for a broader topic
• Two feedback cards for the students. The feedback cards also include a short explanation for why the topic is important and concrete tips that they can try at home or with classmates.

School Day is available in English, Spanish, Finnish, and is always free for individual teachers. 

"School Day's mission is for every student to have a voice and to be equally heard in their well-being. In partnership with Erika's Lighthouse we are able to make well-being and mental health visible and provide schools and educators support and richer resources," said Mika Kasanen, the Executive Director of School Day. "A positive school culture and environment should be grounded on safe conversations about well-being and good mental health. Together with Erika's Lighthouse we can raise awareness and offer immediate programs for teachers and classrooms."

"Erika's Lighthouse wants to empower young people and School Day gives students an opportunity to anonymously share their feelings with their teachers, which makes it a great opportunity for a partnership," said Brandon Combs, the Executive Director of Erika's Lighthouse. "If students don't feel well, we can't expect them to perform. By teachers recognizing the importance of student well-being coupled with education about good mental health, students can be empowered to recognize when they don't feel well. By coupling the School Day tool and Erika's Lighthouse resources, schools and students can promote a culture of positive mental health."

Erika's Lighthouse strives to ensure adolescents in school districts can take advantage of the range of free tools and best practices to empower students to transcend depression and other mental health conditions. The organization also works with students so they can take advantage of technology to ensure they can seamlessly and expeditiously access reliable, high quality mental health services, regardless of their financial circumstances.

All classroom education programs are skills-based and evidence-informed and include four lessons. Teachers, school counselors, social workers, and administrators can access these programs on the Resource Portal and make them part of their curriculum for the 2022-2023 school year. Available programs include:

• Level I: We All Have Mental Health, which is for grades four through six. It is an introduction to mental health by understanding everyday feelings versus overwhelming feelings with a strong focus on help-seeking and good mental health.
• Level II: Depression Awareness, ideal for for grades five through nine. This is an introduction to depression by recognizing signs and symptoms with a strong focus on help-seeking and good mental health.
• Level III: Depression Education and Suicide Awareness, ideal for grades 8-12, which is a deeper discussion about depression

Information on the School Day program will be available on the Erika's Lighthouse Resource Portal and Discussion Forum. In the 2021-2022 school year, programming from Erika's Lighthouse reached more than 402,000 students in nine countries, 41 states, and 1,500 schools.

More information on bringing Erika's Lighthouse programs to elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools is available at: www.erikaslighthouse.org/teen-depression-awareness-classroom-programs/. 

About Erika's Lighthouse

For media inquiries related to Erika's Lighthouse, please contact Joshua Taustein at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For media inquiries related to School Day, please contact Mika Kasanen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..