Education News Spring 2022 | Page 22

Page 12 | Spring 2022
was also on board and so was the Dean, Dr. Cranston. Their responses were like, ' Why haven’ t we done this already?'"
With Nathalie ' s guidance and support, the two were able to create a comprehensive Mental Health Attendance Policy Proposal, which Kiah says, " goes beyond the initial idea, but where we create professional development and opportunities for in-school mental health days for kids who don’ t feel safe at home. We would also collect data to determine the schools that have the most mental health needs— just ensuring they are getting what they need." Kiah hopes this policy would also create conversations around mental health in schools and at home.
As someone who has struggled with mental health since she was young, Kiah believes public conversations around mental health are important. Mental health was never really talked about at school. When that happens, it feels like you are othered. In high school, I realized how many of my friends struggle with the exact same thing." Kiah sees that conversations are beginning to happen, but slowly. She has presented her idea to a school division and to Sask LEADS and continues to make plans in the hopes of creating change.
A second vision Kiah is passionate about is creating more representation in the education system. " I believe there needs to be more BIPOC / LGBTQ2SIA + leaders and administrators, but in order to get there we need to create an environment in which they feel empowered to do so. We need to create an environment in which our marginalized students feel empowered every single day," she says.
Creating environments of empowerment is all about " representation," Kiah says, " so students see themselves in positions of power, leadership and authority. But even on a smaller scale, see themselves in literature and daily practices. I want to make sure that as a system, every student is perceived as valued. Having many BIPOC / LGBTQ + people in leadership will let students know they can aspire to be in leadership in any field."
This vision for representation, too, comes out of Kiah ' s lived experiences. Kiah ' s father immigrated to Canada from Jamaica with his family at the age of 4. Her mother ' s family immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine in the 1900s. As a biracial student in a predominately White school community, Kiah encountered discrimination, racism, and microagressions from her peers and some teachers. Recalling an English class that was reading To Kill a Mockingbird, which repeatedly used an offensive racial slur, Kiah says, www2. uregina. ca / education / news