LAKELAND - Throughout the school year, students within Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) can get help and support from their fellow students through the Community Helpers Program.
The program, which focuses on prevention and early identification for young people who may at risk, trains students and provides them with information and resources to support their peers by putting them in touch with community supports.
Kimberly Turchyn, coordinator of the Community Helpers program, said the initiative is a catalyst for capacity building, as it highlights existing assets and strengths in the community, rather than focusing on what is missing.
“The Program does not create volunteers to work with young people, rather it finds a way to discover those who youth already turn to when they are experiencing issues and stressors,” she told Lakeland This Week.
Turchyn is also a student advocacy counsellor and works with other student advocacy counsellors in the school division to provide training for students.
For the trained helpers, a key part of the Community Helpers program is that it links them to the appropriate resources and organizations within a community. This way, she said, students are not put in a position of counselling their peers.
The program helps to make these connections and puts a face to the helping professionals in the community.
“Engaging these community assets can strengthen the connection between the formal and informal systems and provide early intervention to youth in the community who may be suicidal or struggling with other issues,” Turchyn stated.
Currently, the Community Helpers program runs at several schools within the Northern Lights Public Schools division, including Cold Lake High School and Junior High School, Iron River School, Bonnyville Centralized High School, J.A. Williams JAWS) High School in Lac La Biche, Caslan School, and Plamondon School.
Students who attend the five NLPS outreach schools located in Cold Lake, Bonnyville, Lac La Biche, Kikino Métis Settlement and Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement can also participate in the program.
According to Turchyn, students who take part in the Community Helpers program are selected through an anonymous survey that is sent out to the entire school population by their peers and school staff. These students, she added, possess natural skills such as compassion and empathy.
“Once nominated, the students are presented with an invitation letter to the Community Helpers training to build on their natural skills and learn the skills of effective communication, coping with stress, setting boundaries and knowing when to refer people for additional and professional supports,” she said.
Nicole Garner, the Communications and Public Relations Manager for NLPS, said the Community Helpers program has been provided through a grant from Alberta Health Services (AHS).
This grant, she said, allocates funding for supplies needed in the program, as well as for the coordinator.
School division officials have received positive feedback from the students who participate in the program.
These youth, she explained, gain more confidence in being able to help their peers. In addition to their duties in the program, the participants usually take on a school or community project as well.
“Generally, the students who participate find it a very valuable experience, both in helping them develop their skills and their ability to learn about mental health and resources in the community,” Garner said.
