INNISFAIL - Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) parent council members, administration and trustees have recently taken part in presentations focusing on strategies to support and promote student mental health.
In her final monthly report to trustees for the 2022-23 school year, superintendent Kathleen Finnigan said funding for the presentation came from the Alberta School Council Engagement Grant (ASCE) program, which provided $500 per school to support school councils and strengthen engagement with parent.
School council members work together and with administration to support and enhance student learning, providing a way for members of the community to consult with and offer advice to principals and school boards. The councils are legislated under the Education Act.
The 10,400-student RDCRS division includes schools in Innisfail and Olds.
“The RDCRS council and administration agreed to collectively use the sum of all school councils grant money to seek out keynote speakers available to all our parent community in RDCRS through in-person and/or via Zoom,” said Finnigan.
“Based on feedback from administration and school councils, the keynote presentation had a continued focus on parent/student mental health and strategies to support mental health, and how to support student learning at home and at school.”
Presentations were made by Linda Crawford, Rania Page and Sam Demma, with members of RDCRS Montford Centre division headquarters and RDCRS trustees also participating in the presentations.
Crawford’s presentation was titled “Mental Health, Motivation and Resilience."
“Crawford founded ‘LC-Inner Mastery’ with the intention to support the transformation from mental stress to optimal health and a reminder of the value of taking care of ourselves by managing our energy,” said Finnigan.
In all, 38 people attended her presentation at a cost of $3,781.
Rania Page’s presentation was titled “Supporting Children and Youth Through a Mental Health Lens."
“Page is a strong believer in the value of addiction prevention and mental health promotion,” she said, noting topics discussed included understanding stress and the stress response and how to help young people manage stress.
In all, 18 people attended Page’s presentations at a cost of $500.
Sam Demma’s presentation was titled “Empty Your Backpack - Hope, Mental Health and Kindness.”
That presentation focused on “how to remove the mental burden on your shoulders and provide you with an empowering outlook on the past, present and future.”
In all, 38 people attended at a cost of $5,250.
School councils must report on the receipt, handling and use of ASCE grants in their annual report to their respective school boards as per the provincial School Councils Regulation.
In her monthly report, Finnigan also outlined some of her recent activities in the area of stakeholder engagement and advocacy.
Those efforts included participation in the recent Rural Caucus of Alberta meeting as well as the Alberta School Board Association spring meetings, and involvement in the system leadership team’s review of the Building Safer Communities report, she said.
Trustees accepted Finnigan’s report as information.
