Creating a Compassionate Community

 

This past Tuesday we offered our 3rd annual Mental Health Symposium. It was held  during the morning and brought over 100 students, staff, and guests together to discuss why mental health is so important, especially during our high school years.

Mental illness is often stigmatized, making individuals who are struggling feel  reluctant or embarrassed to share their stories with others. A consistent message that our guests shared with our students was “You are not alone”.

Brett Rothery and members of the Mental Wellness Team.

 

“Mental Illness is NOT a death sentence” – Claire Hickie U of C Student

Empathy is about sitting with someone and just being

“Love me in the middle of my mess”. – Taunya – psychologist

Students also had opportunities throughout the morning to share their messages of love, hope, and thoughts on the importance of diversity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the activites which our Mental Wellness Committe had asked me to facilitate during our morning together is called Snowballs of Advice, one of the most popular activities from last years symposium

Once again our students have proven that not only do they come into our classrooms with a variety of challenges, beyond simple academics. They have also proven that they are compassionate and can provide their peers with fabulous support and advice.

How do you share the importance of mental health and wellness with others. I look forward to hearing about your ideas.

Erin Luong

 

 

 

We Don’t Say 2.0: Our #Carrollculture of Caring Continues

Image- Journal Cover Christmas 2015

It’s been almost a year since I wrote my first blog post introducing the Bishop Carroll “WE DON’T SAY” campaign. Since then I am proud to say that both the Spectrum Club and hashtag #CarrollCulture  have both taken off.

A few of the highlights of the following year included:

 MAY 2015 – Encouragement during Testing

JUNE 2015 – Radom Acts of Carroll: Remind Account used to Share Daily Inspiration

OCT 2015- Spectrum, Who’s Frank and the Mental Wellness Teams Collaborated during the Healthy Active School Symposium.

NOV 2015- Spectrum Friendship Bracelet Bee

DEC 2015- BCHS Fair Trade Fair-Spectrum Button Campaign Earned $275 for Syrian Women-

FEB 2016- WE DON’T SAY 2.0

The original We Don’t Say Campaign was extremely popular in the Calgary Catholic School District and beyond. Our original posters were picked up by Duke University (the originators of the campaign) and shared on their facebook page. We have also had approximately 10 others school in the area approach us about running their own campaigns.

This year we wanted the campaign to continue to promote inclusivity. Therefore the Spectrum Club asked the Who’s Frank (antibullying team) and our Mental Wellness Teams to help us come up with common derogatory phrases that we have heard.

We then put an “all call” out to our student population and had students select the phrases they would like to model for. 

The end result:

A fabulous product which can be shared on the net, in poster form and as part of the Bishop Carroll Colouring Book which 0ur student body is also in the process of producing.

So now for what you have been waiting for….

Please Enjoy.

And Remember Your Language Matters.

Mrs. Luong