School districts across the province will implement some new mental health programs.
That’s after the province announced another three million dollars for mental health programming in the K to 12 system.
Vanessa White, Director of Instruction for Student Services at School District 46 said the additional funding will have a positive impact on both the teachers and students.
“We are planning on using the money to train staff, teachers, teacher assistants, principals around mental health response, skills, building more capacity about how to deal with students, and adults, who have mental health concerns.”
School District 68 is leading the charge in the province when it comes to the mental health of students in the K to 12 system.
While every school district in Ontario has a manager of mental health and addictions, in B.C., Nanaimo Ladysmith is the only one that does.
She’s Lynn Brown.
“It’s a brand new position and, to be honest, I am one of a kind in the province. This school district took the step to create this position with this focus recognizing this is so important for all of our learners. If the mental health is not where it should be, there’s no learning taking place.”
Brown said much of the mental health education in the District is delivered to students through phys ed but there is a variety of programming for staff available too.
The success of the programming is measured through surveys and adjusted to ensure what is needed is what is getting delivered.
