Port Hardy Secondary School (PHSS) is coming up with innovative ways to engage students.
The high school held a Health and Wellness Conference last Tuesday, Oct. 23, with a number of consultants and teachers involved in different workshops.
Rena Sweeney, principal of PHSS, said that the “idea for the conference came about from a student focus group last spring.”
She also noted that the focus group, which consisted of students and teachers, “discussed how to better engage students.”
The focus group also brought up discussions about any issues that students face in their personal lives, “with a focus on health and fitness,” Sweeney continued. “That conversation grew into plans for a full day of learning from community partners.”
Sweeney added that “once we started to promote it, support agencies and community members were contacting us asking to be a part of the day.”
One workshop, led by keynote speaker Jesse Miller, focused on “how technology impacts how (students) connect with others, then students and staff took part together in active hands-on workshops throughout the day.”
Eric Baker held another workshop in the A’wilgola’elas room, which was on cedar bark weaving. Students weaved cedar into a piece of rope. Baker noted that cedar rope was integral to the way of life and culture for Kwak’wala-speaking peoples.
A different workshop, led by Miller, was called “Mediated Reality,” where students learned about social media use, laws on social media, and also about real situations involving technology nowadays.
Other session topics included cooking healthy affordable meals, dealing with anxiety and depression, physical fitness, strategies for self-care, and the effects of drugs on youth.
The conference ended with a “loud, active competition in the gym that had everyone laughing,” Sweeney concluded.
The conference was an effort by SD85 and PHSS to address issues students were facing, while also informing students of where to access help or services if they find themselves struggling with any part of their lives.
Sweeney also mentioned that the school is “thankful to all of our community partners who joined us and helped make that connection with students.”
