Educator remembered for work on mental health and addictions

The late Susan Greene and the awareness she was creating about mental health and addictions won’t be forgotten by her students and colleagues at Churchill Community High School.

“Right now in the province, there is a local-developed curriculum that only covers Grade 10 for mental health and addictions,” Vice-Principal Rebecca Slater said. “Susan was kind of spearheading a group who was wanting to expand that to be for Grade 11 and 12 students as well. Her dream was someday for it to be mandatory.”

Last school year marked the first time such a class was taught at Churchill, and Greene, who passed away last month, along with Slater, met several times to talk about the class and the direction it was heading. Slater said it ended up going much further than expected as Greene took the curriculum beyond what it needed to be on an academic level. She said Greene made sure every student who took the class knew what services were available to them nationally, provincially, and locally. 

Considering some of the hardship residents of northern Saskatchewan face regarding mental health and addictions, Slater said Greene’s work was beneficial as it gave students from all walks of life the introductory information they need. Greene ensured local professionals visited students taking the class, and showed students where services were located in the tri-community.