2024 Youth Mental Health Symposium
The Center of Excellence for Health is excited to announce that we will be hosting the 2nd annual Youth Mental Health Symposium (YMHS) for New Brunswick high school students during Mental Health Month, May 2024
Empowering youth – one day at a time!
Event Details
Date: May 15th, 2024
Location: Wu Center in Fredericton, NB
Time: 9:30am – 3:30pm
Registration Open: March 15th, 2024
Our goal is to involve 200 high school students from around the province, in conversations that celebrate positive mental health and bring the stigma of mental health out of the shadows and into the light.
Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, ALL COSTS for the event will be covered for 200 students and staff (chaperones) who attend! Please see the poster below and feel free to post in your school.
The first 50 students from each district to register will be eligible for FREE Transportation, Lodging, and meals for the event!
Registered schools will be notified by April 12th with more details.
Students will be notified by April 19th.
Additional Information is listed below and please feel free to reach out to COE Health Lead, Daneen Dymond @ daneen.dymond@gnb.ca
Waitlist
A waitlist will be automatically generated as all registrations are time-stamped.
We currently have 30 students on the waiting list and will reach out to schools and students if spots open.
Transportation
Busses are booked (and paid for by EECD), for Woodstock, Miramichi, Saint John, and Moncton areas. Most students from ASD-E, ASD-S & ASD-W will travel to the WU Center on the morning of the 15th. Transportation for more complex travel will be coordinated on an individual basis by EECD.
Lodging
Lodging, for students and chaperones who need to travel on the 14th, will be provided at Saint Thomas Campus and covered by EECD.
Permission Slips
A permission slip template will be provided by EECD and located on the COE Health Website by April 19th. Chaperones are welcome to modify the form to adhere to specific school policies. Permission slips will need to be collected and verified by a teacher at each school prior to getting on the bus.
Breakout Sessions
- Jessie Brown – How Internal Dialogue Shapes Your Life: The Importance of self-love: After sharing my personal experience with mental illness, I will pivot to explain how that led me to study social work and become a trauma healing counselor. Eventually, I shared my story on my podcast “Rewire to Inspire.” This presentation aims to educate youth about the remarkable ability of our brains to rewire themselves and to emphasize that our past experiences need not dictate our future.
- Megan Crosby – Thrive with Financial Wellness: Financial wellness involves understanding how to manage your money, talk about money, and remove the emotion that accompanies spending or talking about money matters. In this session, we will have an honest conversation around some critical elements of financial wellness: how to use money, how to make it work for you, and how to thrive by deepening & diversifying your conversations about money.
- Andrew Culberson – Becoming: School Well-being Begins with You: We all play a role in creating a positive school culture. However, this does not mean that we do not have our own struggles. This session will help you feel empowered as you learn how to navigate adversity and grow into a positive “well-being” champion.
- Lisa De Luca – Student Forum: Mental Health from the perspective of newcomer youth: This session will focus on mental wellness strategies for newcomer youth as they adapt to school in a new culture and climate. It will also provide ways that Canadian-born students can help create a sense of belonging for their newcomer classmates.
- Britt Florjancic – Youth in Action for Mental Health – Normalizing Our Journey: This session will allow participants to reflect on their personal experiences and intersections, and to build their own action plan to move forward.
- Jennifer Grant – The Power of No: Through this workshop, students will explore the social and emotional complexities of self-awareness, self-management, and responsible decision-making. When things get “loud”, how do we find the courage to slow things down and prioritize what is going on in our worlds?
- Bret Himmelman – Navigating Mental Health: is a Team Canada canoe athlete, RBC Olympian, and World Championship medalist. Bret was diagnosed with OCD and anxiety at a young age and will lead a workshop on developing, evaluating, and adapting new or existing coping skills to better aid with your mental health in a constantly changing environment.
- Tracy Landry & Nathaniel Fells – How to Be An Ally: Recognizing and Responding to Racism: Have you ever heard someone say something hurtful and racist? Have you ever wondered what to do? Come learn how to recognize micro and macro aggression; how to call in/out, and how to be an active witness. You can be an ally.
- Claire Leighton – High Functioning with Mental Illness: This presentation unpacks the idea of “high-functioning mental illness” by examining the uses of the label in pop culture and contrasting it to lived experiences. You will learn a more helpful and accurate understanding of what it means to “live well with mental illness”, discuss the unique challenges that come with such an experience, and provide strategies for navigating these challenges which include self-awareness, self-disclosure, and self-acceptance.
- Ainslee McMillan – Climate Mindset – Transforming Eco-anxiety into Action: This presentation is a hands-on workshop where students will learn strategies for coping with their eco-anxiety and concrete ways to take climate action. After working together to discuss climate change and its associated anxiety in a positive and collaborative environment, students will leave the workshop feeling empowered to turn their anxiety into action.
- Ava Power – Your Anxiety is Not Your Enemy: Anxiety is often associated with a complex narrative of emotional distress & uneasiness within: but how often do we shift that narrative to consider the idea that our anxiety is really just a simple protector of our body? This presentation will dive deeper into the connection between anxiety and your mind & body. You will learn how to cope with anxiety while building a foundation of self-trust.
- Patty Quinn – Medicine Wheel Presentation & Activity: This presentation will help you understand the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual self, and how we incorporate these teachings into our daily lives.
- Lauren Whiteway – Mental Health Advocacy Toolkit: The Coping Toolbox covers a variety of topics such as the Mental Health Continuum, understanding stress, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and self-awareness. We talk about changing focus, challenging negative thoughts, grounding techniques as well as self-care and relaxation techniques. Also included is the importance of connecting with others, exercising, removing unhelpful tools, and building resiliency. In addition, we cover managing stress during current events and other available resources.
- Heather Whittaker & Rob Mather – Mindset Matter: Life can be difficult. The way you decide to deal with difficulty can make a huge difference in shaping the direction of your life. In this session, we will discuss how mindset matters and why. Some of the topics will include growth mindset versus fixed mindset; the Power of Yet; how your relationship with stress can help you rather than hinder; what your relationship with setbacks and failure can mean; as well as the importance of flexibility in life.
- Laura Noble- Finding the Joy – Celebrating Positive Queer Media & Icons – During this presentation, Laura will go over some positive forms of representation for young queer folks (TV, books, social media) along with highlighting some historical 2SLGBTQ+ heroes and their work to spread joy throughout their community.
Please find attached the FAQ’s
