Community Issues Meeting

Today we had the privilege of hosting our 7th Community Issues Meeting which included students; members of our Safe School Action Team; administrators; our local MPP Kevin Flynn; Melissa Matton (IRHS's Public Health Nurse), Constable Bruce Hasenbacher (Community Police Liaison Officer), our Tobacco Enforcement Officer - Aaron Jackson; reps from our local, community recreation centre (Amalia Voicu and Deb Mackay)); additional reps from Halton's Public Health/Sexual Health & Needle Exchange Program (Robert Poezeg and Adam Higeli) and parent representatives from the Ridge Community - Sara Severin and  Fozia Rehman We were very excited to host this forum earlier in the school year, so that we could have all vested stakeholders at the table to share our own personal current information, knowledge and trends;share the latest data from our Youth Surveys and highlight resources available for youth in our community to promote safe and positive responses related to their personal wellness. All participants shared their personal perspectives around two issues in particular,,,mental health and substance use in our local community.It was particularly important and enlightening to hear from the student perspective as three, senior  student reps shared their personal stories and viewpoints about youth issues and concerns.The outcome of the morning discussion culminated in  all of us getting  a better understanding of our roles in working together to further suppport the wellness of our youth at Iroquois Ridge and beyond. Next steps and actions will follow, which will be primarily student led and faciliated by myself, Melissa and members of this community team. The forum itself was initiated by our Safe School's Action Team, as part of our School Improvement Plan Goals for 2012/13, and supported and organized by our new, Public Health Nurse, Melissa Matton. We were delighted to have such a great turn-out at the meeting, which certainly could have been a full day session, due to the rich discussion, feedback, problem solving and action planning by all participants. We were very pleased to hear from our students and our local community partners that in many ways things are improving for our youth, although we can never be blind to the tremendous pressures our young people face as they make personal decisions about their wellness and the wellness of others. In particular, I would like to thank Mrs. Jennifer Flynn and Mr.David Willis  for ensuring that our morning went without a hitch in organizing such a welcoming meeting venue. And I am especially proud of the continued hard work of our SAFE Schools Action Team (SSAT) staff members - Nancy Anstett, Kris Reeve, Caitlin Grieve, David Allan, Paul Beck, Linda Wiles and Lisa Omeri for continuing to work with me in providing advice about how to continue to make our school and community a safe and positive place for our youth, and all vested stakeholders, within our school and extended, Oakville Community. I was very proud of our work together today and thank all of our participants for coming together in support of our students, and each other, as we continue to promote "Wellness" for all. We will look forward to another community session in the Spring, with additional participants joining us, once again, to touch base, and see how we are doing and whether we are putting our next steps into actions that will truly make a positive, difference for our students.