Westmount High students receive ‘wellness boxes’ ahead of exam period

by Jordan Stoopler

It’s rather unique to see Secondary III early from class on a Wednesday afternoon in order to go shopping at the mall.

In this case, though, it was with a distinct purpose in mind.

In February, Westmount High School of the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) students Eliane Goldstein, Brianna Luczenczyn Bohbot, Destiny Thompson and Ella Wilson were accompanied by Spiritual and Community Animator Samantha Page Smith and youth counsellor Emma Schultz to the nearby Alexis Nihon Plaza to buy supplies for “wellness boxes,” which would be assembled and made available to all teachers and students at their school.

The initiative came following the students’ participation in the Headstrong Summit last fall, a virtual program offered by the Mental Health Commission of Canada aimed to spread awareness and reduce stigma and stereotypes associated with mental health. The idea for the boxes came about from the group’s bimonthly lunch meetings of their Health & Wellbeing Student Committee. It also follows their initial project of placing posters destigmatizing mental health struggles around the school.

“We began by brainstorming ideas all together,” said Wilson. “Over time, the themes of the boxes started to take shape.”

These themes include Cozy Reading, Artsy, Brain Exercises, Building and Breathing. The eight individual boxes will include such items as LEGOs, Play-Doh, kinetic sand, colouring kits and word puzzle books – all purchased from Dollarama, Omer de Serres as well as other online retailers. Students took note of the successes and failures of their pilot box, which was initially distributed to a handful of classes.

“Teachers can check out the boxes via an online sign-out sheet and use them as part of classroom wellness breaks,” said Smith. “We also might have them out on a table in the lobby during lunch and recess for students to use.”

Students were allotted $1,000 budget for their boxes, courtesy of a grant obtained by the EMSB’s Student Services Department. On their shopping expedition, they carried around a clipboard with a detailed breakdown of the contents of each individual box and jotted down prices.

Smith says this project has taught students not just about the importance of positive mental health, but other life skills, such as budgeting and how to calculate tax when making purchases. The boxes were made available to teachers and students at the end of March ahead of the upcoming exam period.