NWO Be Well Passport/KPDSB
If you or someone you know needs help, reach out.
That’s the message from area school boards who’ve teamed up with Evolution Mining for Mental Health Awareness Week, May 3-9.
“This year the Keewatin Patricia District School Board has partnered with Evolution Mining, Kenora Catholic, the Northwest Catholic and Rainy River District School Boards to create our first NWO Be Well Passport,” explains Mental Health Lead for KPDSB, Candice Kerkermeier. “The passport takes participants on a well being journey and it was created using the perspective of the First Nations continuum framework so there’s a number of self care activities broken down into spiritual, emotional, mental and physical wellness.”
Students and families are welcome to participate and as activities are completed, students who submit an email at the end of the week will have a chance to be entered into a draw to win prizes.
Kerkermeier tells us throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve seen an increase in mental health concerns.
“We know the pandemic has impacted our students in various ways, unfortunately students have been dis-connected from their friends and their family, social activities and we know that has a direct impact on mental health and well being. However, our students have really demonstrated resilience throughout the pandemic and following COVID guidelines. We really feel they are doing their best to attend school and we want to thank them for that, as we know its been a really difficult time.”
With area schools back to virtual learning, Kerkermeier says mental health teams and teachers are working hard to provide online services to support their students.
“Student counsellors have done some really creative and unique ways of providing virtual counselling rooms, so they’re like a fun interactive document that students can us one, reach out for mental health services if they need it but they can also use the various tabs on the document to find coping skills.”
Students are also receiving classroom wide presentations on new virtual field trips provided by Mental Health Ontario.
Kerkermeier stresses “we really encourage students, parents and care givers to reach out to their school administrators or community mental health service providers, if they’re concerned for their mental health and well being of their children and we also encourage students and families to access the mental health tabs on our board websites.”
In addition to the passport each day of Mental Health Awareness week, schools will be sharing videos from the OPP, Tikinagon, the Dryden Native Friendship Centre, Jack.org and Firefly about mental health topics and available services.
To participate in the passport, you can download it from any of the board’s websites or at nwobewell.ca.
The full interview with Candice Kerkermeier, Mental Health Lead for the Keewatin Patricia District School Board can be listened to below.
