An elementary school principal in Tecumseh wants the community to know resources exist at the school level to deal with mental stress in students.
Tracey Rilett from AV Graham Public School is encouraging families to attend a mental health seminar tonight at the Caboto Club.
"When we do see stress or recognize some of those symptoms and teach students how to be resilient and teach them some of those coping skills it does make a positive impact," says Rilett.
Rilett says stress can be prevalent in young people.
"It interferes with the child's ability to focus on things and their concentration, and in some cases their ability to learn and get along with others," says Rilett. "This wil provide some strategies and suggest some resources for those coping skills."
She says statistics over the past five years show one in five people of all ages deal with mental health issues.
Tonight's event starts at 7pm and is the third in a series of free mental health seminars put on by the Greater Essex County District School Board. The next one in this year's series is set for Wednesday at the Roma Club in Leamington.
Rilett says the seminar will educate familities on mental health services available within school boards.
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{"Sometimes it's working with our child and youth workers but it's identifying those symptoms and then working as a team at the school level," says Rilett. "And then sometimes with our community agencies as well when they're involved and we have consent to work with each other then that allows us to address some of these concerns."