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Eckville Elementary celebrates mental health days

Students celebrate a number of self-care initiatives, through mental health days.
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A student from Eckville Elementary School participates in Chalk Talk Day

Eckville Elementary School is one school that has been working this week to bring to light the necessity of mental health for all its students, with an entire week dedicated to that cause.

This week, the school - and others within the Wolf Creek Public School Division - enacted a series of programs to foster, encourage and raise awareness of the necessity of mental health for its students. Activities in the program entail a number of theme days, corresponding to an action or topic of importance - all relating to mental health.

“One day, we focused on self-care, and the kids wrote down what they do for self-care, and posted it on the bulletin board,” explained Whitney Jarvis, a Social Worker at Eckville Elementary School, on Tuesday. “Today, we have green ribbons on, and the teachers also wrote down what they do for self-care.”

Other mental health days included one during which students and teachers were allowed to wear hats, entitled Hats On For Mental Health, and a Chalk Talk Day, during which students wrote positive notes on the sidewalk and a bubble day, when they symbolized blowing their worries away by blowing bubbles.

Jarvis noted that on Friday, the teachers have a surprise prepared for students, with a small assembly to happen at the school. Jarvis noted that the assembly will involve an interesting video presentation for students.

Efforts to raise mental health awareness are division-wide, among Wolf Creek Public Schools. Jarvis noted that it’s important to bring about awareness, so that when students are aware of what makes them happy, they can refer back to that, when they are struggling.

“It’s across the division, for sure,” noted Jarvis. “We’ve been doing it every year, for four years, [at Eckville Elementary School.] It’s a positive thing for the kids to know - that we all have things going on in our lives, and that it’s important we’re nice to one another.

“The kids love it, and they ask questions and participate so well. Even at the high school level, they’re wearing ribbons.”

samuel.macdonald@sylvanlakenews.com