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Peer Council Empowers Student Through Community Support and Leadership

 

  Student and staff Peer counsellors after a meeting

In a bid to foster leadership, mutual support, and emotional well-being,the iniversity is turning to a new student-led initiative: the Peer Council. This innovative program brings together students from different grades and strands to offer guidance, mentoring and emotional support to their peers, aiming to create a more inclusive and supportive educational environment.

The Peer Council is designed to provide students with a safe space to discuss issues ranging from academic pressure to personal challenges. Through regular meetings, one-on-one mentoring, and group discussions, council members play a life. The program emphasizes peer-to-peer interaction, allowing students to connect more easily with others who may have faced similar experiences.

 The council is composed of both staff volunteer students  who undergo workshop on active listening, conflict resolution and mental awareness, these sessions prepare them to support fellow students and refer them to professional resources if needed. 

“Sometimes, talking to a teacher or counsellor can feel intimidating,” said Florence Pill, a third year Peer counsellor volunteer. “The Peer Councils different because we’re students who understands what it’s like to deal with the stress of school, relationships, and planning for the future. It’s by the students, for the students.”

This system helps relieve some of the pressure on school counsellors and fosters asense of responsibility among students to look out for each other.

“Our Peer Council has added more events and talks on mental health days to the academic events,” said Pill. “It’s great to see the school taking student feedback seriously.”

As the program continues to grow, educators and students alike are praising the Peer Council’s impact on both individual well-being and the overall sense of community within schools.

With mental health and student well-being becoming increasingly prioritized in educational settings, the Peer Council model could soon become a standard feature in in schools nationwide. Advocates believe that peer support offers a vital complement to traditional mental health services, with the potential to reshape how schools address student needs.

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