8
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 1, 2020
Flushing middle school to receive mental health support
programs following cases of student suicidal ideation
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
After local elected officials
and community leaders
in Flushing expressed shock
at the number of students experiencing
suicidal thoughts
at JHS 189Q Daniel Beard
Carter School, the Department
of Education (DOE) is
taking action to address the
crisis.
During a legislative meeting
on Feb. 7 at JHS 189Q
(144-80 Barclay Ave., Flushing),
Principal Magdalen
Radovich and her staff
members announced 60 students
speaking of suicidal
thoughts in the past year, according
to a report.
State Assemblyman Ron
Kim, who attended the gathering
with two dozen other
elected officials and community
leaders, had pushed
for the DOE to jump on the
matter promptly.
According to Kim, the
DOE is taking a multipronged
and strategic approach,
allocating immediate
resources to help students
while they’re in school.
“I am thankful that the
New York City Department
of Education has responded
and acted swiftly for this
scary situation at JHS 189,”
Kim said in a statement.
However, in a statement
to QNS, the DOE claims
that Radovich misstated
the number of students who
have had suicide ideations,
saying, they’re “unable to
share the exact number but
it is far less than 60.”
According to the DOE,
the regularly scheduled
legislative breakfast at JHS
189Q was held to thank
local elected officials for
their support of the school,
not to discuss any specific
concerns around student
mental health.
“During the breakfast,
the principal asked the
community’s support for
their Community School
program, and the addition
of a mental health and wellness
center on their campus.
Mental health of the students
was part of a larger discussion
and not the focus of the
breakfast,” a DOE spokeswoman
said.
According to the DOE,
unprecedented investments
were already made at the
school to ensure students
and staff have social and
emotional support, and
training to identify and
prevent risk.
“At JHS 189, the staff
have been trained on selfharm
prevention, and students
have a social worker,
school psychologist, a mental
health consultant through
ThriveNYC, and a Substance
Abuse Prevention and Intervention
Specialist,” a DOE
spokeswoman said.
“Staff have had trainings
in both Making Educators
Partners in Suicide Prevention
and Kognito programs,
both of which focus on mental
health identifying and
mental health concerns
include suicide ideation,”
the DOE added. “Guidance
counselors attend Creating
Suicide Safety in Schools and
Crisis School trainings.”
JHS 189Q also offers students
the opportunity to join
several socio-emotional organizations.
Sexual Assault
and Violence Intervention
Program (SAVI), the National
Alliance on Mental Illness
(MANI), and Day 1 have conducted
classroom lessons on
mental health and building
healthy relationships, the
DOE said.
If a student reports suicidal
ideations, the principal
and parents/guardians are
notified and appropriate referrals
to provide intervention
and supports are made.
The school also conducts
parent workshops that focus
on the safety and wellness of
their children.
Meanwhile, Kim said
he believes that the suicide
crisis stems from Flushing’s
lack of affordable
housing and skyrocketing
commercial rents.
“The school staff and I
both know that if these students
are experiencing trauma
outside of school, stemming
from economic stress,
poverty or an unstable home
environment, we will continue
to see a rise in depression
and suicidal ideation in
the future,” Kim said. “The
long-term solution is clear:
securing safe and affordable
housing for all families. No
child should be living in abject
fear of going homeless
every night.”
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–4526.
JHS 189 Daniel Carter Beard School in Flushing.
Photo: Carlotta Mohamed/QNS
Jamaica man uses jiu jitsu training
to diffuse tense subway kerfuffl e
BY MADDISON FARRIS
In January, 32-year-old
Jamaica resident Daniel
Kouame defused a tense
situation between two
straphangers on the E
train while he was on his
way to visit his mother in
Astoria.
According to Kouame,
a man laid down on a
woman’s shoulder on the
subway, and became agitated
after being asked
to move. Visibly upset, he
garnered the attention of
the entire subway car.
Kouame says he was
wearing headphones during
most of the exchange,
but when other people
began to get involved, he
knew he needed to act.
Kouame, a senior HR
manager for an accounting
firm, had been training
at the International
Training Center of New
York, located in Astoria,
for four years as part of
his pursuit in the art of
jiu jitsu. He currently
wears a purple belt.
Kouame is passionate
about jiu jitsu and self
defense, but even more so
about safety.
Kouame recalled the
man becoming increasingly
violent to the point
where he knocked the
woman’s phone from
her hand onto the subway
floor. As the dispute
was escalating, Kouame
stepped in to separate the
man and the woman in an
effort to diffuse the situation
and keep everyone
safe.
Kouame exited the
train with the woman at
her stop and walked her
home when he noticed the
man following her. The
man eventually left them
alone and everyone made
it home safely, Kouame
said.
“I knew I had to do
something because I
would have felt awful if I
had let it go on,” the good
Samaritan said.
The woman later wrote
to the jiu jitsu school,
thanking them for training
individuals who are
able to “foster peace and
provide safety” in stressful
situations such as
the one she had recently
found herself in.
“I would hope that anyone
else would have done
the same thing,” Kouame
said.
Kouame values the
practice and discipline
of self defense, and encourages
others to try it
too so that you are never
without a way to protect
yourself.
The International
Training Center of New
York offers beginners
classes on basic self defense.
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