Inaugural SMART Youth Mental Health Summit Emphasizes Student Wellness

The wellness of young people in Western New York was at the forefront as a wide range of educational and community partners worked together at the inaugural SMART Youth Mental Health Summit. 

The day-long event, held on November 18, 2025 at the Buffalo Convention Center, drew together approximately 300 registrants to hear from national and local speakers like mental health advocate and author Ross Szabo and take part in learning sessions on topics like fostering student resilience, increasing social media and internet safety and providing support for those in grief. 

The first-of-its-kind summit was hosted by the Supporting Mental Health by Advocating for Resources Together (SMART) Collaborative, a professional learning community established to prioritize P-12 student mental health and social-emotional learning. With more than 80 percent of chronic mental health beginning in childhood, the urgency of providing supports students was clear for those in attendance.  

“It may be the defining challenge we have in our society, and it starts when they're 11 and 12 and 13 years old,” said Michael Cornell, former Hamburg Central School District superintendent and Interim President of Hilbert College, in an interview with WGRZ-TV. “We have to do a much better job of preventative care and understanding the needs of our children and de-stigmatizing the conversation around their mental health, because for 50 years we didn't really talk much about the mental health of our students and when we did, we didn't really have a ton of supports in place to help them.”  

Other highlights of the day include the presentation of Mental Health Impact Awards, opportunities for participants to visit community vendor tables as well as a poster display contest.  

The Supporting Mental Health by Advocating for Resources Together (SMART) Collaborative is administered by Erie 1 and Erie 2 BOCES in partnership with the University at Buffalo and Erie County. 

More information about the SMART Collaborative can be found at https://communityschools.e1b.org/events/about-smart.  

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