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OPINION: The words we speak and the community we create

Whiles supportive of initiatives like Bell Let's Talk Day, FSD's superintendent is always more supportive of creating a culture that supports this all year round.
HOLIDAY-Foothills-School-Division
Foothills School Division superintendent Chris Fuzessy making apple sauce with the kindergarten class at Turner Valley School in October.

Over the next few days, we’ll see our social media feeds filled with personal stories, famous quotes, and words of affirmation as we open our minds and hearts to reduce the stigma of mental health supports. While I support initiatives like these, I will always be more supportive of creating a culture where these conversations and sharing moments can occur all year long.

I believe that the wellness of our community is interconnected, with all of us shaping the resilience, strength, and mental stamina of our young people. It’s all of us — teachers and staff in the classroom, families at home, leaders and influencers in the community — that shape the view for our young people.

To say that this past year has been an ongoing challenge to our mental wellness is a grand understatement. Each one of us has had to dig deep, sometimes deeper than we could, to manage the stress, uncertainly, burnout, worry, and frustration. We’ve been mad, sad, and scared. But we have also been strong, focused, and determined to get through it all. The struggle is real, as some of our high school students would say.

But here’s the lesson in the struggle: How we respond, individually and collectively, defines and shapes our community. Certainly, the communities in our schools, but also our entire community — all of us.

Over the past two years, I’ve been asked this question with regular frequency: How can we support students?

Both inside and outside of a pandemic perspective, my answer is always this: Be impeccable with our word.

We are role models. When we choose to speak words of kindness, we show our young people how to exist in a marketplace of ideas. When we choose to disagree agreeably, we show them that progress is only possible when we create a space for every voice to be heard. When we consciously choose words of kindness and encouragement, we teach our future leaders that what we say — and how we say it — really matters.

But most of all, when we choose to speak words of kindness to ourselves, we teach young people to trust themselves—to find comfort and support in the voice that matters most — the one that comes from within. And young people with that kind of mental resilience and personal ownership can do anything.

I will do my part to support the extraordinary people who do this work in the classroom. You can help continue this momentum by modelling the same at home and in the community. And the past two years have shown me that this community is exactly capable of this kind of leadership.

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