The UGDSB's Terry James Resource Centre (TJRC) provides educators with access to many mental health resources. Everything from non-fiction texts providing information about mental health topics, to picture books about emotional regulation, to teacher resources with strategies for supporting wellbeing in the classroom.
For students, the TJRC has been adding more eBooks and audiobooks about mental health and wellbeing that students can access independently for recreational reading. Sora shows students resources that are recommended for their grade level, which helps with finding good-fit books.
For non-teaching staff, TJRC is developing a new collection of popular adult non-fiction books about dealing with stress, practicing mindfulness, and moving for wellbeing.
Some of the most popular resources at the TJRC are:
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The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken
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I Am Human and I Am Peace by Susan Verde
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Angry Me by Sandra V. Feder
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If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson
The following resources in Sora are currently popular at the TJRC:
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Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome by Robby Novak
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The White Book: What To Do When You're Stressed by John Wood
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The Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids by Lorraine M. Hobbs and Amy C. Balentine
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Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
"We're always looking for suggestions of new books or hands-on learning resources we could add to the collection. Staff can access our 'Suggest a Purchase' form to make a recommendation," says Lauren Bull, TJRC Supervisor, Library & Media Services.
The TJRC recently launched a new collection of sensory and educational tools, developed in collaboration with KidsAbility. The collection equips and empowers staff working with students who benefit from visual, auditory, tactile, body awareness, motor, and/or executive functioning supports.
They have also partnered with the Program Curriculum team to loan out kits that promote building health through movement, like pickleball, prodigy disc golf, and Bocce, as well as mindful stretching.
Board-wide initiatives like Wellness Works and Mental Health & Education Week are supported by the TJRC each year. Lauren Bull sits on the committees for both projects, which serves the dual purpose of helping the TJRC team to better understand the goals and outcomes of the initiatives while allowing them to make connections back to the resources centrally available.
Inspired by the Wellness Works themes, the TJRC has been exploring ideas related to mental health and wellbeing through staff meetings, engaging in activities and discussion about problem solving, gratitude, self-compassion, and coping with stress.
"We know the value of these skills and strategies for students, so emulating this learning at TJRC is a great way to model our commitment to championing health and wellbeing," Bull says.
Last fall, they partnered with Student Mental Health and Experiential Learning to offer an in-person opportunity for Learning Commons staff and administrators to learn more about the Wellness Works Educator Toolkits that have been distributed to each school.
These Toolkits include products from Adventureworks, like the Body Parts Debrief, a Thumball, and Pocket Processor cards. Together they explored the connections between mental health support and the Learning Commons, strategies for making resources accessible, and ideas for modelling the Toolkit with students and staff.
