Dear Parents,

On Tuesday night, we had our 1st Parent/Community Info Night of the school year. It was a privilege to hear from our 3 guest panelists: Dr. Alvin Loh (Developmental Pediatrician and Current Trinity Parent), Jill Shaughnessy (Manager at Nelson Youth Centres and Current Trinity Parent) and Kayla Coombs (School Counselor at King’s Christian Collegiate).

Our main theme of the evening was how to emerge stronger from COVID-19 as it relates to our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Dr. Loh highlighted some of the research and conclusions that doctors have drawn about the disease along with how this correlates to best health practices to keep both ourselves and our community healthy. We also looked at some warning signs that our mental health is being affected, and steps that we can take to get help. He also stressed the importance of keeping ourselves spiritually grounded and strong, which has a direct effect on renewing our minds and keeping ourselves in the right space mentally.

Both Kayla and Jill echoed Dr. Loh, and talked about the importance of structure and creating a sense of normalcy wherever you can. This includes doing whatever activities we still can and keeping elements of our traditional celebrations. This also leads us into the importance of social-emotional skill building to help create greater resilience.

They also reminded us that it is important to take care of your own mental health as a parent and model well-being to our children. This includes establishing good physical routines of eating healthy and incorporating daily exercise. It also extends to spiritual routines of personal prayer, reading the Bible, and staying connected to a community of believers.

Kayla also mentioned a few questions that we can consider to help us with our own focus and challenge our children as well: 1- What needs redemptive focus in your life? And 2-How can you contribute to restoration within your sphere of influence? We know that despite the times we live in, God is in control and nothing is taking Him by surprise. He does want us to be healthy in all facets and it is helpful to have believers like Dr. Loh, Jill, and Kayla who have provided us with tools to do so. 

Here are a few links that you can explore that they have provided:

https://rockonline.ca/asn/

Webinar Series: Live chat with child and youth mental health professionals

https://cmho.org/back-to-school/

See the attached link here for a recording of this presentation.

Sincerely,
J-D Lussier, Principal