The Student Voice group at Centennial High School was concerned about stress and anxiety. The students took part in the Speak Out Forum which is a way to communicate students’ experience in the education system to Alberta Education. They discovered that students were worried: about their futures, their grades, class size, their exams, their extra curricular time, and their jobs.
The group decided to take action, and find ways that students could manage stress, depression and anxiety in a positive way. They created an action plan at the HASS (Healthy Active Schools Symposium) which they rolled out over the 2014-2015 year. First on the docket was learning more about mental health with Centennial High School’s Mental Health Teacher. Students created pamphlets and presented resources to their peers in YOTES (homeroom) class. In March 2015 Student Voice sent students to The Youth Mental Health Summit. Students were able to talk to their peers about mental health, as well as listen to personal stories of people who struggled with their mental health and learned healthy, positive ways to manage mental health.
The Student Voice group is now embarking on organizing a Mental Health Week to correspond with Canadian National Health Week on May 4-8th. I am so encouraged by these students who want to educate people about Mental Health to remove stigma and to make the world a better place.
Lexie is a teacher who enjoys reading, bike rides, Netflix and puppy snuggles in her spare time. @MrsKinjo is her handle on Twitter