Prairie Rose psychologist touts efforts of student wellness team

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on January 14, 2026.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

As the demand for mental health supports continues to grow, Prairie Rose Public Schools continues to focus on providing adequate opportunities for students to improve their wellbeing.

School psychologist Greg Godard says part of his job is to simultaneously express that the “sky is falling” in regards to the current student mental health crisis, but also that the sky is not falling, in that the support staff within the schools does have a handle on properly aiding students.

Currently, PRPS has 10 full-time student wellness counsellors, a resilience strategist and a mental performance professional. This team handles both individual and group counselling, classroom-based mental health programming, parent education, resilience and coping skill development and school-based consultation and intervention.

They have been seeing fewer calls regarding students experiencing significant dysregulation due to life events, something Godard attributes to the resilience strategist, who mentors students through these periods.

“Kids have a harder time coping nowadays with stress,” said Godard, who says he is not sure the amount of stress has increased as much as previously assumed. “[The amount of stress] has [increased] guaranteed, but not as much as this might imply. I think kids’ abilities to tolerate stress has gone down substantially, for various reasons.”

The number of referrals to counselling has increased, especially among high school students, says Godard, enough to prompt a potential look into how to better meet student needs. One of the larger reported issues remains anxiety.

PRPS is responding to these increased needs and the impact of social media on students through expanded supports, staff training and a strong focus on helping students build the skills they need to manage stress and thrive.

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