Manitoban students will be heading back to school with mental wellness on the minds of their educators.

On Tuesday morning, the day before most schools hold their first classes across Manitoba, ministers Audrey Gordon and Cliff Cullen stand outside of Louis Riel School Division's (LRSD) headquarters. Joined by the division's Superintendent Christian Michalik and Canadian Mental Health Association's CEO Marion Cooper, the province announced more than one million dollars will be set aside for mental health care.

"The first day of school is always an exciting time for both students and staff but we know it can also be an anxious time. There has been significant work done over the past year, over the summer, to ensure that our schools are a safe as possible for our return this fall," the education minister says.

Cullen says the more than $1 million in funds is on top of last year's $2.5 million for mental health. 

"Our goal is to build upon what we know works well for our students, teachers, and communities," Gordon, Manitoba's Mental Health, Wellness and Recovery Minister, says in the press conference. 

The Manitoba Mental Health in Schools Strategy includes funding for past projects such as SafeTalk training for educators to discuss suicide prevention and intervention for older teens and their parents, and Thrival Kits for middle years students to discuss mental wellbeing techniques like meditation.

marion cooper and cliff cullenMarion Cooper (left) joins Minister Cliff Cullen (right) in saying in-person learning is important for students' mental health.

Cooper says this could look like having "the opportunity to take time in every day and practice meditation, practice the skills they learnt around talking about their feelings, understanding what their rights are as children, and mental health is a human right, and many other strategies that become a regular part of the school day." 

The mental health and education ministries will be working with the Canadian Mental Health Association on many of these projects, which include assuring there are appropriate supports for both students and staff. Gordon says $380,000 of the fund will be going to this organization to province navigation assistance to identify and access supports needed. Ten other initiatives are included in the funding.

Michalik is welcoming the funding. 

"This investment is more important than ever as we continue to navigate an unprecedented and unpredicted global pandemic. This announcement aligns with what we have been hearing with the Louis Riel School community," which Michalik says is "the importance of mental health, support for students, for staff, for families, has been a common theme."

He says this was highlighted by more than 700 staff members and 1600 families in a survey as being something on their hearts.

LRSD is one of the dozens of divisions across the province that will benefit from this funding. Divisions will be given some leeway with the funds, as a one-size-fits-all approach does not work with different areas having different needs. 

Cullen says the province will continue to work closely with divisions.