A program from Cochrane High School (CHS) is receiving national recognition, despite the fact that the program in still under a year old.
The Canadian Education Association (CEA) will present the Ken Spencer Award, for innovation in teaching and learning, to CHS for its Cochrane Healing Arts Time (CHAT), a non-mandatory program that operates on a referral basis to give students a safe place to refocus on learning using the arts.
The program was developed as a response after Student Orientation to School (SOS) surveys revealed a high number of students dealing with severe anxiety and the risk of those students disengaging from school was determined to be probable.
“It was really shocking to our school administration with how many kids at our school identified with anxiety and severe anxiety, with academics and school but especially socially,” explained Brianne Link, CHAT’s facilitator.
The program began the pilot stages in 2015, as a creative arts program designed to utilize flexible instruction materials, strategies and techniques to meet the student’s needs. Instructors and facilitators offered students an alternative to “talking about” their problems by putting a paintbrush in their hands instead.
“Kids say to me that they are tired of adults asking what is going on… so we designed the program and the trick was to design a program that the kids wanted,” Link said. “We wanted to create a space that students would be honoured to come to,”
Not all students are verbally expressive especially when dealing with anxiety, Link explained. Instead, the facilitator asked the students to paint one word that summed up their biggest struggle, and then paint around the word to “turn it into something beautiful.” Link said the results were “amazing.”
“It was interesting because one of the girls I tried to connect with and talk with was very, very shy and had anxiety, we had conversations but it wasn’t much… then her painting came out and it was beautiful and when I asked her about the painting, her answers were incredible,” Link said.
The CHAT room is designed as a welcoming space for students, to help develop communication skills, self-esteem, confidence, creativity, advocacy, resilience, efficacy and peer relationship – and the paintings are now being used as a means by administration and teachers at the school to learn more about their students.
“It is a tool for teachers and staff at the school because we were very surprised at some of the words that the kids choose… relating to eating disorders or home life issues,” Link explained.
“The paintings answer not only the questions that staff needs to know about their students but it is also teaching them tools to communicate.”
While it was obvious the paintings were providing a release for the youth at the school, the program was also helping student’s attendance and grades.
“One of the things as a pilot, I had to prove this program worked and one of the tools I used was attendance – kids on the brink of dropping out, their attendance improved huge and their grades improved,” Link said.
The facilitator said universities across Alberta have expressed interest in the program and she is hopeful it will be implemented in other Rocky View Schools.
“We need to address these issues and stay true and understand our students and help them be successful – to me being successful is a combination of academic grades and social well-being,” Link said.
The CAE is planning to present CHS with the award at a recognition ceremony in the spring.
