St. Peter students take a mental health day
Students at St. Peter Secondary School in Peterborough received tips to improve their mental wellness during Be Well, a daylong mental health symposium held on Tuesday.
Students from Grades 9 to 12 took part in the symposium, which used to run annually at the Catholic high school on Medical Drive up until the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Multiple speakers have not been used for the symposium since 2014, according to Jen Riel, student council staff adviser.
“So, it’s definitely new for all the students that are currently in this school. It’s just nice to get them exposure to a whole bunch of outside agencies here,” Riel said.
“CMHA is here, along with Good Food Impact, and the JackTalks.org organization. Then we have representatives from the board office, who are experts in this area here as well. So, they get to hear from someone other than their teachers on these topics.”
Eight groups held workshops throughout the day, including a drumming workshop, a Zumba dance class, an art session, and tips for stress management and the importance of good nutrition.
“Student council members — we have a team of 20 students — partnered up and each made an information board on various topics of mental wellness,” Riel said.
“Things like how to manage stress, anxiety, balancing a heavy workload, getting proper sleep, and the importance of fitness for our mental wellness were a large part of our focus.”
Mental illness diagnoses are currently on the rise, explained Riel, though the day’s events are more focused on improving mental health for everyone.
“There is a focus on what you can do if you feel like you’re struggling with a mental illness, but mental health affects all of us,” she said. “So, the speeches they give at the workshops today, are very much about accessibility to all, because every human could feel better about themselves.”
Elaine Melecio, a Grade 11 student on the St. Peter student council, said organizers have been working on the event since September and it has been a great success.
“So many students were engaging,” Melecio said. “We even had a game of (mental health-themed) Jeopardy, which was really fun.”
Each teacher signed their class up for a variety of different sessions.
“So, in each session, you might have two or three classes worth of students participating. The hope is throughout the day, a student might get exposed to a couple of different workshops,” Riel said. “We have around 80 people on average per workshop.”