Programs
F.N.M.I
Alberta Education is committed to improving education outcomes and creating opportunities for First Nations, Métis and Inuit students in Alberta. We work with stakeholders to provide strategic direction and supports. GOALS: - Success for First Nations, Métis and Inuit students - First Nations, Métis and Inuit students are engaged in learning. - The achievement gap between First Nations Métis Inuit and non First Nations Métis Inuit students is eliminated. First Nations Métis Inuit – Family School Liaison Worker: The healthy development of First Nations Métis and Inuit children and youth requires dedicated and sustained efforts. Centered on traditional understandings of interconnectedness and wholeness, the role of the FNMI Family School Liason Worker will include: • Act as a resource and provide liaison services between First Nations, Métis and Inuit families and the school or between the family and community agencies. • Collaborate with home and school to address the needs of the students. • Reduce barriers and stigma. • Provide short term, crisis intervention counseling services to students and families. • Advocate for individual students and/or their families with regards to family, school and community issues and services. • Interpret Aboriginal cultures in social settings for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students to allow FNMI students to connect with their cultures. • Work as a team member with appropriate school personnel in order to assist students to overcome difficulties and develop their full potential. • Collaborate on interagency committees as deemed. Who is Eligible? The family-oriented program is available free of charge to families within MHSD #76 who have self-identified as First Nations, Métis, Inuit. Referral to the program will be accepted from parents, teachers/administrators, community agencies or self-referral from students and district residents.
H.U.G.
Helping Us Grow (HUG) is part of the provincial Mental Health Capacity Building Initiative, that works to promote positive mental health in children, youth, families and individuals in the community who interact with children and youth. The funding for this program comes from Alberta Health Services Provincial Addiction and Mental Health. We have been in operation since 2007 and we provide prevention and promotion services to all schools in the Medicine Hat Public School Division. Our program follows an evidence-based logic model and developmental framework based in an ecological context to guide programming. The MHCB program helps promote resiliency and increase protective factors. Everyone can benefit from efforts to promote mental health and prevent mental illness, where mental health refers to our ability to manage our life, attain goals, cope with life stressors and be able to bounce back from setbacks. The type of programming we offer includes skill development, such as coping, dealing with stress, communication, relationship building, self-care, and empathy building, among other important life competencies. Specific techniques include mindfulness, relaxation, emotional self-regulation and information on how the brain works. All of our work helps to increase awareness, reduce stigma and promote help seeking behavior when or before life or stress hits a tipping point. With one in five Alberta children and youth affected by substance use or mental illness, it’s vital that prevention and access to early mental health intervention or supports are available at an early age. We meet our mandate by: Delivering mental health promotion and prevention programming including presentations to students, staff, parents and/or other community members that increase wellbeing, resilience, protective factors, promote early identification of issues and addressing risk factors; Building capacity in others who work with children, youth and families, to deliver wellness presentations and programming; Organizing and facilitating school and community-wide mental health events and awareness campaigns; Facilitating our community partners to have access to students to promote their services and share their expertise Collaborate with service providers in the community to maximize service efficiencies and to advocate for unmet mental health needs for children and families; Share and exchange knowledge and resources between MHCB Programs through the MHCB Community of Practices established across the province. Together we can begin to help students and families start to identify various ways to manage stress and build resiliency. Contact information: April Welshman Program Manager HUG/MyPlace Medicine Hat Public School Division Office located at Southview Community School Hug@sd76.ab.ca 403 526-4495 extension 5824
English Language Learning Resources
Hah Medicine Hat Public School District offers language and cultural support to English language learners (ELL) registered from Kindergarten to Grade 12. We have students from a rich variety of backgrounds and who speak many different languages at home. After new students register, a language assessment may be completed to determine the needs of the student. This serves as a guide for programming and allows us to make a recommendation regarding the type and frequency of support. We offer your child a welcoming environment that honours our students’ heritage, helping to ease the transition into Canadian life and culture. If your child is transferring from a different school or district where they received ELL support, then please indicate this when you register your child at the new school. If your child’s primary language or the language spoken in the home is not English, then please also indicate this when you register your child for school. Your child may benefit from receiving English language support even if they have been born and raised in Canada.