By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

Children’s Mental Health Awareness week kicks off today and local schools are doing their part to participate in removing the stigma of the term “mental health.”

Dr. Kristal Shelvin, Livingston County Children’s Network manager, said the goal of raising awareness is to teach the importance of mental health and not to wait until a crisis to address a person’s needs. She said skills like building healthy relationships with others, learning to deal with conflict and managing relationships are some of the important things that the Positive Action curriculum is addressing in students kindergarten through eighth grade.

Students this week have been taking part in poster contests, making door decorations and more activities to raise awareness for mental health.

“At the Cornbelters game in Normal on Friday, there will be a bunch of kiddos with our shirts on, which we’re pretty excited about, because we hope that that will improve our reach and get the awareness out, not just in Livingston County, but further,” Shelvin said.

For more information, visit samhsa.gov/children, which is the website for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.