As spring break nears, college students everywhere are gearing up for a week at the beach or a trip back home to see family. But for one group of Auburn students, spring break will look a bit different. Alternative Student Breaks, or ASB, is an initiate that provides opportunities for students to serve in various communities across the country during school breaks.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020, The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) became the first university in the United States to formally adopt the Okanagan Charter and become an internationally recognized Health Promoting University or College. Since then, 15 more institutions have formally adopted the charter, and the US Health Promoting Campus Network (USHPCN) has grown to 165 campuses participating.

This spring, Alabama community college system leaders are working on new statewide measures to retain students, including appointment scheduling and a “student success scoring” system, which would help identify students who need help early, rather than waiting until they ask for it. 

A $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, awarded to the University of Alabama, will be used to improve school climate and reduce school violence among high schools in West Alabama’s most rural counties.

Representatives of Mobile’s Youth Violence Prevention Program discussed its new campaign, “The Why Campaign — Teens Against Violence," which exists to create a safe and nurturing environment for youth while addressing the root causes of violence. 

For more than 10 years, Florence City Schools has had on site professional mental health counselors from Riverbend Center for Mental Health.

A bilingual school counselor in Adams 14, a district north of Denver, was interviewed to learn more about how school counselors work with students and how being bilingual contributes to the job.