My Place Program students cook sausages over an open flame in Kin Coulee park. Photo courtesy of Lee Krasilowez
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Students from the Medicine Hat Public School Division may not be in class, but that doesn’t mean that they lack opportunities to make connections and build critical life skills.
Over the course of the summer, the division offers a series of free camps for students, as well as community activities, said April Welshman, program manager for the Mental Health Capacity Building Programs.
“We put on free programs for elementary students in the morning on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday, and for our junior high students on the same days in the afternoon. And then on Mondays and Fridays, we do drop in community events.”
She explained that these community events happen at a variety of times, as well as a variety of parks throughout the city, and all of these events are done primarily in the name of connection.
“They’re building their social skills, their life skills, and really just connection with each other,” said Welshman. “Mondays and Fridays and our drop-in events for the rest of the summer, are really just to get families connected to one another, and things for them to do during the summer. We know a lot of parents can’t take vacation time, but they’re inside our community and we want to give them these events and these opportunities.”
The mid-week programs, known as the HUG program for elementary aged students and the My Place program for junior high students, changes from week to week, with a focus on mental health building and valuable life lessons.
A previous week, for example, while themed around Taylor Swift and making friendship bracelets, spoke at length about the importance of healthy relationships, and what those look and feel like.
This week, said Welshman, the students have been making simple campfire recipes, as well as learning about building and maintaining safe fires. This also included the bonus of making delicious food that they could take home and eat.
“Everything we do has a mental health message, or some kind of connection piece,” said Welshman.
This focus on wellness and connection has certainly been the case for camp regular Gracelyn Holmes, who not only has been attending the programs for several years, but has started to volunteer with the younger students in the HUG program.
“I like helping with the morning camps, it’s fun because I get to work with people and help them if they need anything,” said Holmes. “And then I come to these ones in the afternoon, and they’re fun because we get to do things we might not have done before.”
Her favourite week has yet to come, however, with the Community Helper week in August, in which the participants will volunteer at the Root Cellar and wear old costumes for a senior’s parade.
Holmes said that over the years, she’s been able to make many friends with the help of spending time with them through the program.
“It was especially nice when I was going to a new school,” said Holmes. “Because then I had already known some people from the summer.”
The midweek camps are consistently at capacity, said Welshman, but she encouraged families to come by during the Monday and Friday drop-in offerings throughout the summer.
