Helping students develop positive mental health and getting them access to specialized care when they need it is the goal of School District 43’s new mental health co-ordinator.
A topic that was taboo until a few years ago is now part of the B.C. education curriculum, and Rachel French says she is excited to work with schools to develop a culture of positive mental health in the classroom.
"The investment that we put into this, and the earlier we do it, has so much impact later on," Rachel French, mental health coordinator
“We want to end the stigma,” said French, who started with the school district as a teacher in 2005, later became a counsellor and most recently worked in the learning services department helping students with special needs.
Schools are already implementing strategies to help students recognize stress and anxiety, and to develop coping strategies to deal with them. In elementary school, for example, children are learning emotional awareness, relaxation, problem solving, self-management, goal setting and interpersonal communication, and teens are working with Share Family and Community Services and the YMCA to learn coping mechanisms for anxiety and stress.
But French would like to see more sharing of best practices and programs to help teachers recognize mental health challenges and enable them to link students with appropriate services.
“There is a place to talk abut mental illness. That’s the literacy part — we want everyone to have an understanding,” French told The Tri-City News. “It’s just making sure we are all aware of the resources in our communities.”
The initiative follows concerns about a rise in anxiety among children and youth, an issue the new B.C. curriculum attempts to address with a revised PE curriculum, called Physical Health Education, that adds mental health as a topic in addition to sexual health, child abuse prevention, substance abuse prevention and SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity).
As well, French is the district’s lead for SOGI, which recognizes that students who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or not exclusively heterosexual deserve to have a safe, welcoming and inclusive learning environment, something she says all schools are working toward, and which hasn’t been controversial as it has in school districts in the Fraser Valley.
“We’re just sticking with the curriculum. It’s about inclusion. We’re looking at the curriculum to guide us.”
SD43 has wanted to have a mental health co-ordinator position for some time and even approached the province with a proposal. At the time, it was noted that SD43 got less funding than other districts for its vulnerable student population, with estimates of as many as 3,000 students needing extra supports who aren’t getting them.
Assistant superintendent Rob Zambrano said the district found funds in its own budget this year to hire a mental health co-ordinator to oversee programs in the district and support counsellors who are seeing more students with mental health challenges.
Meanwhile French said she is looking forward to the challenge of her new position.
“I love the idea that we are focusing on mental well-being. I am excited the district thinks it’s important and is being proactive. The investment that we put into this, and the earlier we do it, has so much impact later on.”
