In late November and early December, more than 7,000 Kindergarten to Grade 12 students attended virtual sessions with Experiential Learning staff to learn strategies to improve their mental health and sense of well-being.
Michelle McCann, Instructional Program Leader for Student Well-Being, explains that through the Stand Up for Student Well-Being series, students are learning everyday mental health and well-being strategies. Sessions were provided for Kindergarten-Grade 6 students and Grade 7-12 students.
“The sessions led students through an experiential learning exercise that allowed them to practice a strategy and ask questions through a Google form,” she says. “Activities were provided to teachers to help prepare students for the experience and help them consolidate their learning after the sessions. We had community partners take participants through movement activities for well-being and laughter.”
Through the laughter portion of the series, McCann says, “comedian coaches took students through three activities to get them laughing called ‘breathe with a smile’, ‘darling if you love me’ and ‘30 seconds of laughter’. They also taught students about how laughter supports their overall well-being.”
This series was created in response to the “expressed need for engaging experiential learning opportunities for students” especially since the start of the pandemic, McCann says.
“Educators appreciate opportunities for students to learn more about well-being strategies that students can implement which ultimately support positive mental health and classroom achievement.”
Lisa Galay, Leader of Experiential Learning for Grade 7-12, says the Stand UP for Student Well-Being series allowed students to take time to focus on their well-being, “so they feel good and are ready to learn.”
“The activities align with expectations in the Health and Physical Education, Language and Arts curriculums, however, we truly see this initiative as an opportunity to go beyond the curriculum,” Galay says. “Students learn best when they are safe, comfortable and well, so taking this intentional time for their mental health and well-being helps the curriculum naturally fall into place.“
This initiative supports the goals outlined in the
HDSB’s Multi-Year Plan, specifically in the area of Mental Health and Well-Being.
“The Stand UP for Student Well-Being series provides guided opportunities for educators to support this commitment by having community partners share an everyday well-being activity through experiential learning,” Galay says. “By the end of the series, we hope students will have a strategy to add to their well-being toolkit.”
Ashley, a Grade 6 student at Maple Grove Public School in Oakville, says taking part in the Stand UP for Student Well-Being series helped her better understand the difference between laughing at humour and mocking a person.
“I learned that there are healthy laughs and hurtful laughs. A healthy laugh is where you are laughing with someone or at a joke,” Ashley explains, “and a hurtful laugh is where you are laughing at someone. I also learned that laughing releases pheromones. When this happens other people start to laugh and get happy - it is like a big laughing storm.”
