INNISFAIL – St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School can now better assist students and their families thanks to a provincial grant.
Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) recently received a $13,000 grant from Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) to help improve the Family School Enhancement Program for students attending St. Marguerite Bourgeoys school and their families.
“This grant will give us a chance to provide education on mental health,” said Kelly Jacobson, the school's principal. “We are thankful and excited for this opportunity to educate and help our school.”
The funding is a partnership between the province and municipalities, under the Ministry of Children's Services, said Karen Bradbury, community and social development coordinator with the Town of Innisfail.
It is the first time St. Marguerite Bourgeoys school applied for and received the FCSS grant, she noted.
“This was the Catholic school’s first year applying since I’ve been here,” said Bradbury. “It’s all around the area of prevention. FCSS is prevention-based, so it’s providing those prevention services for those children and families.”
In Bradbury’s report, presented to council in January, recommendations for local funding were put forward by the Innisfail FCSS advisory board. She noted that of the $15,400 requested by RDCRS, a total of $13,000 was granted for St. Marguerite Bourgeoys school.
The program at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys school is similar to that of the Chinook’s Edge School Division’s Family School Wellness Program, noted Bradbury.
In a press release, RDCRS stated the funding will be used to increase awareness around mental health, self-regulation techniques and developmental assets -- the positive supports that young people need to succeed.
That awareness will be achieved through family-focused sessions, including learning about coping skills, social inclusion, building a common language and connecting with others.
Staff will also be able to access additional training on helping students learn these concepts in the classroom.
Julie Masson, family school enhancement counsellor at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys school with RDCRS, said the funding will benefit both students and their families.
“Thanks to the FCSS grant we are able to mitigate barriers to parent participation in programs such as Connect Parenting,” said Masson.
“This group will benefit our students and their families by encouraging positive and hopeful feelings about parent-child relationships, providing different perspectives for handling problems and with increased parenting confidence. We know that strong relationships with parents protect youth from risk during adolescence and help them thrive,” Masson concluded.
