Date:
December 7, 2026
8:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Location:
Crowne Plaza
925 S. Creyts Rd.
Lansing, MI 48917
Register NowWhat does school actually feel like for your students right now? Not just what the data tells us or what we hope is true, but what students genuinely experience from the moment they arrive until they leave. Understanding that experience is where meaningful change and student success begin.
Since 2017, the Student Mental Health Summit has engaged thousands of students, educators, and school teams from across Michigan. Schools don’t attend just to learn – they come to better understand what students experience each day and leave with practical ways to improve it.
This one-day experience brings together students, advisers, counselors, and administrators to engage in meaningful dialogue, interactive learning, and shared problem-solving. While grounded in student perspective, the Summit empowers all participants with practical strategies to build supportive, responsive school environments.
School teams will leave with practical strategies, fresh ideas, and a shared commitment to strengthening the everyday experiences that help every student feel safe, seen, supported, and connected.
Change the Daily Experience
The Student Mental Health Summit is designed for school teams who want to move beyond awareness and into action. In one day, you’ll hear directly from students, learn from experienced practitioners, collaborate with schools across Michigan, and leave with practical ideas you can put into practice immediately.
Why Your Team Should Be There
The Student Mental Health Summit brings together students, educators, counselors, and administrators to learn from one another, explore what is working in schools across Michigan, and identify practical ways to strengthen the everyday student experience.
Your team will leave with:
- A deeper understanding of how students experience school each day.
- Practical ideas and proven strategies being implemented in other schools.
- Time to reflect, collaborate, and identify opportunities within your own school.
- Resources and tools to continue the conversation and build momentum long after the Summit concludes.
Why This Matters
For many schools, conversations about student mental health naturally focus on intervention; how we recognize when a student is struggling and how we respond. Those conversations are essential, but they represent only one part of creating a healthy school community.
The Student Mental Health Summit invites school teams to broaden that conversation by examining the everyday experiences that shape student well-being. From the way students are welcomed each morning to the relationships they build with adults and peers, those daily interactions influence whether students feel connected, supported, and comfortable asking for help when they need it.
At the heart of this Summit is a simple but important belief: Every student has a daily experience at school. The question isn’t whether that experience shapes their well-being, it’s how intentionally we’re designing it.
Who Should Attend
Bring a team (or two)
- Students (leaders, voices, influencers)
- Administrators
- Counselors & mental health staff
- Teachers & advisers
- Anyone shaping the daily student experienceThe more perspectives in the room, the more powerful the outcome
(Middle and high school student leaders, including peer mentors, student council members, and the educators who support student well-being initiatives.)
This year’s Summit will place a particular emphasis on the environment, relationships, expectations, and supports that every student experiences as part of their school day. This Summit is designed to broaden the conversation by exploring what schools can do proactively to strengthen belonging, connection, support, and well-being for all students.
Sessions should provide participants with strategies, examples, resources, or structures they can consider adapting within their own school communities. Click here to learn more
Funding Options
Title II, Title VII (Eligible Districts) & Section 31aa
MASSP Cancellation Policy
Cancellations made ten (10) business days or more in advance of the training date, will receive a 100% refund. Cancellations made after this date, including no-shows, are nonrefundable. Registration fees may be transferred to another individual by contacting the MASSP office at (517) 327-5315.
In the event that MASSP must cancel a training due to unforeseen circumstances, including inclement weather, participants will be refunded the cost of registration or may credit the fee toward an upcoming training. MASSP does not assume responsibility for any additional costs, charges or expenses; to include, charges made for travel and lodging.
December 7, 2026
8:30 AM – 8:40 AM
Welcome and Conference Overview
December 7, 2026
8:40 AM – 9:45 AM
Student Voice Spotlight Panel: The Daily Experience of Mental Health
Through a facilitated conversation, panelists will explore belonging, relationships, stress, help-seeking, school culture, and the everyday interactions that can support—or challenge—student well-being.
December 7, 2026
9:45 AM – 10:30 AM
Keynote Speaker
December 7, 2026
10:30 AM – 11:20 AM
Better Together: Field Exchange
Participants will move to mixed-school tables for a student-led exchange focused on what is working, common challenges, and practical ideas schools are using to strengthen connection, belonging, and student well-being.
December 7, 2026
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Lunch
December 7, 2026
12:30 PM – 1:10 PM
Breakout Presentations — Session I
December 7, 2026
1:10 PM – 1:20 PM
Break
December 7, 2026
1:20 PM – 2:00 PM
Breakout Presentations — Session II
December 7, 2026
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM
Designing the Daily Experience: School Team Time
Through guided reflection and planning, students and adults will examine their current school experience, identify areas of strength and opportunity, and consider practical ways to strengthen the environment students experience every day.
December 7, 2026
2:45 PM – 3:00 PM
Closing Remarks
Dustin Odham
Dustin’s career has centered on a single question: How do we create the conditions for people to recognize and unleash the greatness already inside them?
He has led teacher-development organizations, worked in school turnaround and innovation, advised superintendents and district leadership teams, and spent more than a decade with FranklinCovey Education. During that time, he has served as a Client Partner and Managing Director, led teams across multiple regions, and partnered with educators and communities throughout North America to strengthen leadership, culture, and performance.
Today, Dustin continues that work with FranklinCovey Education while also hosting Change Starts Here, a podcast dedicated to helping education leaders create meaningful change—starting with themselves. As a speaker, facilitator, and leadership consultant, he brings together research, practical experience, storytelling, and more than two decades spent working alongside educators.
Change Starts Here is the podcast for K–12 leaders driving meaningful change in their schools and communities. Presented by FranklinCovey Education, each episode features insightful conversations with innovative educators and research-backed strategies to build leadership, strengthen culture, and deliver real results. Start listening now for bold ideas, practical tools, and inspiring stories to help you lead with clarity, purpose, and impact—because real change starts here.