Secondary Schools – Education Program Components and Activities

Our Beautiful Minds education program includes a series of components for teachers to adapt to fit the needs of their classroom. This education program is designed to help teachers meet the requirements of the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training’s curriculum guidelines both formally (health and physical education, social science and humanities) and informally (English, math, science, art). The Beautiful Minds in Secondary Schools education program can be used in almost any class where an opportunity to discuss mental health presents itself.

Beautiful Minds has an extensive teacher resource manual which provides the teacher with all the information, supports, and materials needed to implement the program in the classroom. The teacher resource manual describes how our mental health and wellness education program is linked to the curriculum guidelines for a number of courses, provides complete ready-to-use materials including overheads, as well as a number of resources and supplementary material for teachers to access and suggest to their students.

Beautiful Minds Education Program Components:

1Stigma. What is it? How does it affect people’s lives?
This component introduces stigma and describes how it impacts the lives of those who are experiencing mental health issues.

2What is mental illness?
This component includes an overview of the most common mental illnesses, their causes and possible treatment options.

3Beautiful Minds Presentation
A facilitator and one or two volunteer speakers come into your classroom and present general information about mental health and share their personal experiences with mental illness. The facilitator and speakers are required to complete an extensive training session before participating in a presentation. The facilitator has experience in the area of mental health and is oriented to the Beautiful Minds program. The volunteer speakers have a variety of experiences and mental health issues.

Students are given a Beautiful Minds handbook which includes information about stress, feelings, mental health and resources. In addition, students have an opportunity to collect a number of resource materials from local agencies and organizations (i.e. brochures, pamphlets).

4Follow-up Education, Activities and Resources
The teacher resource manual provides suggestions for debriefing after the Beautiful Minds presentation and provides a number of resources for teachers and students for additional information about mental health and wellness.

Beautiful Minds Education Program Registration Process

Follow these easy steps to book your speaker and receive program materials.

Check the calendar for available dates

Fill out our quick registration form.

Receive the materials after registration